Reavers
by Bad Werewolf
Summary: The Doctor ends up on Serenity, because Jack Harkness is up to something. River knows things. Reavers are involved. Chaos ensues.
1. Chapter 1

x x x

**Reavers**

x x x

**Disclaimer**: Not mine. Do I look like Joss Wheadon? Gods, I hope not! And I don't claim credit for anything Doctor Who, either.

**Author's Note**: This story would not leave me alone! It really really wouldn't. It stuck in my head and wouldn't let me focus on the other things I wanted to write. I tried searching for something like it, to read, but found very few crossovers, and none that used this idea.

Y'know, considering the subject matter, I'm amazed that I managed to drag it down to a T rating. There are Reavers in this story, after all, "_rape you to death, eat your flesh, and sew your skin into their clothes... and if you're lucky they'll do it in that order_" (love that quote). Although, you'll be happy to know that part of dragging the rating back to my usual range involved not writing the Reaver-sex-scenes that my brain managed to conjure. Mmhm, you heard me, I did think about it (didn't _want _to think about it, really didn't... and couldn't write it either, so don't anyone ask for me to post it) but even the highest rating here wouldn't be enough for _that_.

Translations, taken from fireflyrpg website, can be found at the bottom of the page. I'm not fluent in any language except English. So if there's mistakes, it's 'cause I don't know the language used in this 'verse well enough (and I would appreciate being corrected).

Also, I apologise in advance if I fail on the main characters' speech-patterns (or generic Firefly 'verse speech-patterns, for that matter), it's been a while since I watched Firefly.

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_2507-08-12; 1925 (Twelve Years Ago)_

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Out on the edge of space, near the farthest and most recently terraformed world on the frontier, a small cargo ship named the Dauntless floated in high orbit, scanning the surface. They were about as far away as it was possible to get from the war over the border worlds, which- due to orbital patterns- was mostly taking place on the far side of White Sun.

They were out here for what was apparently a highly covert operation, run by a man who wouldn't even tell his crew his own name. He had encouraged them, upon arranging this expedition, not to use their own real names, either. "Make up an alias. Always use it. I don't want to know your real names, and you do not want to know mine. Makes it harder for a certain friendly and lovable government to trace us."

Everyone knew that the Alliance government was a bit overbearing and controlling- even those who supported them knew this- but to actively try to avoid them was just asking for trouble. Yet he denied when any of them asked if he supported the Independents in the war. "Does this coat _look _brown?" he had asked, indignantly.

So they had chosen aliases. The pretty brunette navigator called herself Dana. The young pilot had called himself Jason, and their Captain had immediately taken to calling him Jay. The engineer, who looked about the age of the Captain, chose the name Erik... so the Captain called him Ricky, only explaining that with a dismissive "You look like a Ricky." As for the Captain himself, well, just Captain. He'd laughed like a madman when Jason had asked "Captain who?"

Now, however, after several months tracking some sort of 'priceless artifact' that the Captain would not elaborate on, they had become very close friends, in spite of not knowing each other's real names. There was something about the Captain that had once led Erik to suggest he'd had Companion training, and he sure did seem able to put them all at ease even when he wasn't outright flirting with them.

"It's all about the money, isn't it?" Jason asked, now. Dana was working on the scanners, trying to detect their target from this distance, and the Captain was sitting comfortably in the co-pilot's chair, looking for all the 'verse like they were just having a pleasant holiday to some exotic world, rather than being on a very well-paying mission that by all accounts could get dangerous if the Alliance found out what they were up to.

"For you, might be." the Captain said with a shrug.

"You got a better reason, Cap'n?" Dana asked, not looking up from the scanner.

"Curiosity." the Captain said, smiling at the two, "It's priceless 'cause I'm not selling it."

"But you can afford to pay us a Companion's ransom to tag along?" Jason asked, grinning.

"Some people might pay more than that to rescue a Companion." the Captain muttered, his smile wavering for a fraction of a second, but his eyes said that it was funny for some reason Jason did not comprehend.

"I've got a trace." Dana said brightly, "Matches the profile, but it ain't dirt-side."

The Captain was up and leaning over Dana's shoulder before either of the other two even saw him move, "Where is it, then?"

"Headed core-wards." Dana reported obediently, "It's on an Alliance ship, no beacon number."

"Wong ba duhn. An Operative's ship." the Captain hissed, leaning past Dana to bring up further information on the screen, "NX-300 class, recon ship. Scanning their engine radiation trail, we get back to Persephone, you guys can get off and get paid. I have to follow this to Londinium." he groaned, clearly annoyed by this turn of events, "I was just there last year!"

Dana and Jason exchanged a wary glance with each other, "Cap'n, with all due respect, we ain't 'xactly criminals. We'll go with you, if you need us." Dana pointed out.

"You really wanted this prize, huh?" Jason asked, smirking slightly at the Captain's annoyance. It was rare to hear the Captain swear, only time it had happened before was when they'd stopped at Muir for refuelling, and someone had dared try to steal his favourite gun.

"Still want." the Captain said, matter-of-fact-like, "The Alliance can g'en ho tze bi dio se, for all I care."

"And you claim you're not Independence." Jason teased.

The Captain grinned at Jason, suddenly looking very dangerous in spite of the smile, "If I was, I'd be on the other side of the 'verse right now. I'm perhaps the third-or-fourth best warrior of all time, and I'd tip the balance for certain."

It wasn't the first time they'd heard hints to his past. He claimed to know Alliance Ops-level access codes, have worked for at least three corrupt and 'non-existant' agencies in the past, and to have seen things that could make a grown man cry for his momma at just the name of it.

Still, they never got details, and only knew him for who he was now, a warm and caring man who would quite literally cross the 'verse and face the black to defend a single friend- and these three seemed to count for some reason none of them had yet to figure- and they had unanimously agreed that they did not ever want to look into their Captain's dark past if they could avoid it.

"Alright, Jay." the Captain said, retaking his seat in the co-pilot's chair, "Stay on silent, and wait for that Ally-ship to get to eight-hundred ahead of us. The three-hundred series has all their good scanners on the bow, so we can shadow them as far as Persephone, and track their flightpath from there."

"Aye, Cap'n." Jason said, setting the course as he'd been ordered.

x x x

It was slow going, shadowing another ship required some kind of skill from the pilot that many people just did not have. Jason, however, was good. Very good. He managed to keep the Alliance ship in scanning range, right to the point where it passed out of this star's gravitational field, less than a day's travel to Lilac and Haven. But that was where another ship got involved.

A big one, at that. Must be a high-spec cruiser of some sort, the Captain called it a Titan-class, though neither of the others had ever seen a ship that big before. But it had hull damage, something awful, and it had drifted right into their flightpath, between them and the Alliance ship.

"Beacon says the ship's called Cerberus. I'm not hearing a wave, though." Dana said, turning warily to look at the other ship through the window.

"Doesn't feel right." the Captain muttered. He was sitting up now, attentive and for once not smiling. In fact, he was glaring at the Titan-class ship as if he was aware of something there that was wrong. Maybe a military sort of danger-sense, there had been hints that he'd seen real combat in the past.

"If we send a wave, the NX-300 will hear us too." Jason pointed out.

"I know." the Captain agreed, "Deviate course, to compensate for the Cerberus, but stay at least eleven hundred behind the NX while you're outside their engine-trail."

Jason nodded, adjusting their course.

As they passed close to the Titan-class ship, they watched it through the window. "What's that on their hull?" Dana asked, nervously.

"Besides half a dozen breaches?" Jason asked snidely, "Paint... I hope."

"Love the optimism." the Captain snarked.

"They're powering up engines, and... I think that's an EMP." Dana said, now genuinely fearful.

"Ta ma duh." the Captain grumbled, "Power up, run away."

"What about the NX?" Jason asked.

"I do _not _want to be scuppered in the black, running out of air, again." the Captain snapped, "Jio weh sung chiuh. Now!"

"Aye, Cap'n." Jason said, with a sigh.

He knew it was the right course of action, but couldn't help feeling let down that their mission was now officially a failure. They hadn't got what they came here for, and now the Alliance would likely know they were here, and all. It wasn't that the rest of the crew, 'sides possibly the Captain, had any reason to dislike the Alliance, only that they knew what they'd been getting into when they signed up for a mission that involved avoiding them.

The Dauntless powered up, and zoomed away from the Cerberus, quickly reaching maximum speed.

"It's following us." Dana warned, "And gaining!"

"Bu kuh nuhn." the Captain said, "A Titan can't match us for speed."

"This one is." Dana insisted.

Once again, the Captain was leaning over her shoulder before she could blink, "It's burning at three hundred-percent engine capacity. If it doesn't catch us, it'll explode."

"I'm hoping for the latter." Jason offered weakly.

The Captain grabbed the internal comm, and called down to the engine room, "Hey Ricky, I need you to give us more power."

"What's going on up there?" Erik demanded.

"Nothing that could be mistaken for good." the Captain said bluntly.

"I'll see what I can do." Erik offered.

"No, you will make us go at least twice max speed." the Captain ordered, "If we come down in a fireball on Haven, I'll be happy as long as we can walk away from it."

"What about the ship?" Erik complained. Like most good engineers, he had become quite attached to the Dauntless, during their mission so far.

"She's replaceable. It's not like she's alive." the Captain snapped, "Now make her go faster!"

"What's so bad about that ship?" Dana asked, looking more scared of the Captain's behaviour than by the ship pursuing them.

"I have no idea. But I know there's _something _wrong with it." the Captain said, frowning at the readouts as the Dauntless accelerated. It still wasn't enough to outrun the pursuing ship.

"They're not slowing!" Dana shrieked, "They're gonna ram us!"

"Evasive manoeuvres!" the Captain ordered.

"Already happening." Jason replied, as they swerved upwards and to the left, just missing the bow of the Cerberus by inches. But then a docking bay door opened on the side of the other vessel, and their own engines stalled.

"What was that?" the Captain demanded.

"Magnetic grappler." Dana supplied, before adding in the whining tone of someone who expected people to play by the rules, "Those are illegal!"

"Yes, because the law matters out here." the Captain muttered, scowling, "Power down, we'll only burn out the engine fighting that."

"Do we have a plan?" Jason asked, as he let go of the controls and turned to face Dana and the Captain.

"One of the best." the Captain said, grinning again, though the expression was colder than usual, "Get onto the enemy's ship, disable them, then get out... usually manage to escape right at the last second, but I can be optimistic if you can."

"Details?" Jason persisted.

"We'll need to disable the grappler, that'll be easy." the Captain said, shrugging, "It's a compact unit, the controls will be just in from the docking bay. And those engines have got to go, or they'll just catch us again. That'll be more difficult, engine room's not usually too close to the docking bay in a ship like that. We also need remote codes to the bay doors, either from a member of the crew or the main database... and the database would be right next to the engines."

"You've done this sort of thing before?" Dana asked, "Infiltratin' and disablin' ships, and the like?"

"Many times." the Captain answered with a bright smile.

x x x

_Translations:  
_Wong ba duhn: son of a bitch  
G'en ho tze bi dio se: engage a monkey in a feces hurling contest  
Ta ma duh: damn, or damn it  
Jio weh sung chiuh: retreat  
Bu kuh nuhn: impossible

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	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**: I couldn't find everything I wanted in that translation guide I found online, and I'm so poor that I couldn't afford to buy the proper one, but I do have the use of a TARDIS with fully functional translation circuits (not so good on the chameleon circuits, mind), so... yeah, I know it's cheating a bit, but meh.

Reviews make me update, I'm an attention whore.

Also, RT Davies is _Pure Evil_, and I hope he gets eaten by a Reaver! Poor Jack... this story seems so much less cruel all of a sudden. And, seeing as I finished this before watching Children of Earth, this story is now AU as well. You'll find out why in a flashback scene near the end.

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_2519-10-15; 1145 (Present Day)_

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The Doctor was, once again, completely lost. He knew where the TARDIS was in relation to himself, but he did not know on which planet they had both found themselves. It was hot, and the air smelled dreadful. Getting pretty close to a human imagination of hell, with the sulphurous stink and the uncomfortable heat... except no fire, and the ground was dusty yellow instead of the typical image of red and black.

Besides, he'd been to hell, and in reality it was a pit orbiting a black hole. And honestly, it didn't smell half as bad as this place.

He was in a small settlement on this unpleasant little planet, and figured since he was here, he may as well investigate. It's not like the TARDIS brings him to random places without some reason, especially when he had been trying to get to Earth, 2703, to meet up with an old friend.

So he wandered down the street, taking in the area around him. It had a kind of rustic wild-west feel to it, and once you got past the smell it didn't seem so bad. He found a small building resembling a saloon, and decided that it might be a good place to start finding out where he was. Saloons, bars, cantinas, whatever you called them, almost always the best place to find the most interesting points of any world you find yourself on.

He should probably have been more surprised by what he found there, but honestly, he wasn't.

It was obvious the moment he stepped into the room, echoing in his mind, ripples washing over him through time, almost painful. Captain Jack Harkness. And his eyes automatically turned to the source of this feeling, to see the man himself, reclining far too comfortably on a wooden chair, talking amicably with the other two at the same table.

Across from Jack was a very attractive woman. No, that was an understatement, she would be more accurately described as the ultimate personification of beauty within a ten galaxy radius. Even the Doctor couldn't help but stare at her in awe. Her raven hair fell perfectly around a radiant face, a warm smile and the deepest dark eyes. She must spend hours a day on her appearance, perfect makeup, spotless fine silk dress, and flawless skin, of which there was a fair amount showing.

Next to her was another pretty girl, much younger, with scruffy brown hair pulled up into a ponytail. She was clearly much less concerned with her appearance but somehow that lack of effort made her naturally sweet face even cuter. Just like Jack, to find the only two pretty faces in a world like this.

The younger girl nudged the woman, and murmured under her breath, "Check out that bit of shwie." In the back of his mind, the TARDIS translated the word 'shwie' as 'handsome'. It sounded a lot like Mandarin.

The woman raised an eyebrow, and met the Doctor's eyes for an instant, before turning to her friend, "Now, Kaylee, I don't think Simon would appreciate your wandering eyes."

"Simon ain't here, though. And I'm only lookin'." Kaylee noted, continuing to look even as she said it.

Jack turned, now, to see what was so interesting, and his face lit up, "Doctor!" he cheered, standing up and closing the distance between them in two steps. Before the Doctor could say or do anything about it, he was being hugged. In spite of the prickling sensation in the back of his mind that told him to run away from this abomination that his friend had become, he returned the hug, smiling as he did so.

"Long time no see, Captain." the Doctor said, not letting the smile waver. It wasn't Jack's fault that he was cursed, so he did his best not to show his discomfort around this particular human. But the Captain didn't let go of him, and when he tried to move a hand down from the Doctor's shoulder to his waist, the Doctor laughed and pushed him away, "Who are your friends?"

Jack blinked, pretending he really hadn't tried to do anything inappropriate, "This is Inara Serra." he gestured to the beautiful woman, "And this is Kaylee Frye, best mechanic in the 'verse." he indicated the younger girl. Then he turned to them both and continued, "Ladies, this is the Doctor. An old friend of mine." he glanced to the Doctor again, eyeing him up in a calculating way, "Who either doesn't do his research very well, or has a lot of nerve to wear that coat here."

"Lack of research." the Doctor said bluntly, "Why is that relevant?"

"Something to do with a war." Jack said, shrugging innocently.

"Isn't everything?" the Doctor asked, somewhere between morbid and joking. It really was true, but he didn't like to think about that fact.

Inara was smiling serenely at him with only the twinkle in her eyes to show she found this funny, while Kaylee was much less restrained and giggled at their little exchange.

"So, um." the Doctor started, glancing between Jack and the two women, "Stupid question, but... where are we?"

"This planet's called Lilac." Jack answered, "Out on the rim of the New Anglo-Sino Alliance system, far enough out from the core that the Alliance itself doesn't have that much influence. And it's the year twenty-five nineteen."

"You needed to explain all that to him?" Kaylee asked, surprised.

"He's a bit out of the loop, most of the time." Jack said, shrugging as if this was perfectly normal and Kaylee was being silly.

"Been living in a box, most of my life." the Doctor supplied helpfully. Jack smiled at that, though it didn't reach his eyes. Something in the Captain's demeanour seemed forced, as if he was acting instead of just being himself. What was odd about that was that he was acting like himself.

Inara watched them both carefully for a moment, clearly trying to decide if this was a joke or not, then she stood, "Am I to understand, then, Captain Harkness, that you no longer require our services?"

"I wouldn't say that." Jack said, his tone bright and almost cheerful, "Just because the Doctor's here doesn't mean we have a space-worthy ship to our collective names."

"Hey!" the Doctor snapped indignantly, but Jack gave him a very serious 'shut up' look.

"Just an extra passenger, and one pretty big bit of cargo." he glanced at the Doctor, "Am I right?"

The Doctor sulked, "Maybe. Depends what you're up to this time."

"Tracking something _interesting_." Jack said, grinning. Once again, the Doctor saw something odd about his expression, though, as if he was only pretending to smile.

Jack had spent time working for the Agency, and as a con-man, so he had to be a good actor. The discrepancies the Doctor spotted made him cautious, but he chose to behave, for now, as if he didn't notice anything unusual. He wasn't sure if Jack was under duress, or just didn't want the Doctor to know something. Always best to wait for more information before reacting to things like that.

Still, the emphasis on the word 'interesting' implied that it was something potentially dangerous, like the sort of thing the Doctor stumbled across every day. How could he resist an offer like that?

"I don't suppose I could say no to that." the Doctor said, folding his arms and trying to glare at Jack. It didn't work, as the smile he was trying to hide was no doubt visible in his eyes.

Just then, a loud crack overhead drew their attention. Kaylee looked up, "Fast atmo-drop, engines hurtin' some." she informed them. Jack and Inara both rushed to the doorway, to look up at the source of the sound. Kaylee and the Doctor exchanged a glance- he saw fear in her eyes, and chose to believe it rather than showing his own excitement at something that must be new to him- before following and looking up as well, to see a ship hanging in the air exactly the way that bricks don't. It had that ominous looming quality of an invasion force, even if it was only one vessel, and the red paint and grotesque decorations on the hull did not exactly bode well.

"Oh no." Jack said, shaking his head as he stared at the ship overhead, "No no no no no!"

"What is it?" the Doctor asked.

"Reavers." Inara whispered, horrified, then she quickly touched a commlink to her ear, "Mal, we've got Reavers!" she declared, with far more strength, and a near military efficiency in her tone now.

"Seen 'em, on it, with you in five!" a male voice called back from the comm.

"Five might not be fast enough, Mal!" Inara warned, sounding downright terrified.

Jack whispered under his breath in that Mandarin dialect that Kaylee had used earlier. The translation from the TARDIS told the Doctor that it meant 'merciful death'.

"Hardly accurate." Kaylee squeaked at him.

Jack turned a cold look on the girl, "I can pray to her if I want."

The Doctor flinched at that, guessing easily that Jack was actually referring to the Bad Wolf, and the curse that she had given him. "What are Reavers?"

"Greatest monsters of them all." Kaylee supplied, and Inara nodded her agreement.

The Doctor scowled at her eerily familiar choice of words, "Really?" he asked, looking to Jack. He knew Jack had seen a lot of monsters in his time, and would take his word better than that of the two women who had probably not seen any other terrible kind of monster to have any comparison.

Jack gave him a very serious look, "Which would you call the worst?"

"Daleks." the Doctor answered without hesitation.

Jack shook his head, "'Least they kill you quick." The Doctor took a step back from Jack, stunned by the very idea that a worse monster than the Daleks existed.

Several lines dropped from the ship, now, and humanoid figures slid down them to the ground. People in the street were running, screaming, in blind terror, fleeing from these creatures.

"Hurry up, Mal." Inara whispered, as she shakily pulled a small holdout gun from a garter beneath her dress. Kaylee also had a rather larger hand-gun out, now, holding it to her chest like a security blanket.

The first Reavers down to the ground lunged at the nearest humans, seizing them and beginning to tear at their flesh with a disturbing variety of bladed weapons. One caught a young woman who had been too slow to reach a doorway that probably wouldn't have held against any form of assault anyway, and it pinned her to the ground. She shrieked as it clawed at her chest.

Jack scanned the street, and the Doctor heard him counting under his breath, before he pulled a gun, stepping forward and firing on the Reaver that had grabbed the girl. Headshot. Then he turned quickly, to shoot down two more that had captured human victims.

Still more descended from the ship overhead. And now they started to converge on the greater threat, which was Captain Jack. When he saw the new arrivals, Jack ducked to draw a dagger from his left boot as the Reavers closed in.

He shot one point-blank between the eyes, turned around to slash the throat of another, then kicked at one that came up behind him, striking it right in the groin, before turning and driving the dagger into its neck. They kept coming, and he kept killing them. Brutally efficient, one hit with that dagger, or one shot with the gun, and it was always a kill. He showed them no mercy.

The Doctor wanted to look away, but couldn't. He wasn't sure whether to be more horrified by Jack's behaviour or the creatures themselves. To all his senses, save save for reason, they appeared human... but they attacked like mindless monsters. The few people who had been set upon before Jack intervened had deep cuts and bruises, from only a few seconds of contact with these Reavers, and the girl Jack had defended first was now cowering behind Inara in tears, with barely enough of her shirt left to cover her, as the older woman tried to comfort her.

The Doctor had been watching the fight with a calculating eye, and saw when Jack dropped his gun, having counted the number of shots the weapon had fired. Jack must have done the same, for he didn't wait for it to click empty before dropping it, but it had fired all the bullets that design of weapon could hold. Now he was fighting with only the dagger and his fists, but it still didn't take him long to finish off the remaining Reavers.

But just as the last of its fellow monsters fell, another Reaver- much larger than the others, with blackened burned skin- descended from the ship. Unlike the others, it stalked towards Jack, snarling but not attacking immediately.

The Doctor felt a sense of recognition from Jack, as he looked up at it, glaring so intensely that if looks alone could kill it wouldn't even get close to him. "Should I call you Barbossa? I know I should have saved a bullet for you." Jack said coldly, addressing the monster itself. The Doctor was startled by the utterly out-of-place joke, but the Reaver only snarled in answer, stepping forward once more, threatening.

Very slowly and carefully, Jack pulled up the right sleeve of his coat, not taking his eyes off the last Reaver. With a flash of red- blood- blades appeared from Jack's right forearm. Three wicked-sharp spikes eerily reminiscent of those the Toclafane had wielded, except these were black rather than silver.

The two circled each other, like wild dogs vying for control of a pack. Even Jack began to bare his teeth in a cold imitation of a grin as he moved, deliberate and calculating, to match the Reaver for every step. The dagger in his left hand and the blades on his right arm matched the Reaver for what appeared to be jagged metal claws protruding from beneath its fingernails.

The Reaver attacked first, lunging at Jack, who dodged quickly to the side, tripping it and causing it to stumble, but it quickly regained its balance and turned to lash out at him with those claws. Jack parried with the dagger, catching the claws but not the hand itself, and quickly retaliated with the blades on his arm, slashing the Reaver's chest but not cutting deep enough to even slow it down.

It immediately grabbed his right arm, twisting it and pulling hard, forcing him to turn his back on the creature. Jack only frowned at what was obviously a dislocated shoulder, his arm now hanging uselessly at his side when the Reaver released it. But he didn't cry out, didn't even flinch, at the pain that injury must have caused. Instead, he continued to turn to face the monster once again, and lashed out with the dagger, aiming for the creature's neck.

But one clawed hand caught his forearm, digging the claws in and ripping at the flesh. The dagger fell to the ground, and Jack tried to back away, but the Reaver kicked out at him, knocking him to the ground. It pounced on him immediately, driving one knee into his thigh, and a sickening cracking sound echoed across the street as it broke the bone. But still, Jack failed to show any sign of pain, instead trying to kick the Reaver off him with his remaining good leg. The Doctor could literally feel waves of rage and hatred not only from the Reaver itself, but also from Jack.

"Someone oughta help him!" Kaylee shouted, pointing her gun at the creature. But her hand was shaking, and Inara quickly placed her own hand over Kaylee's, stopping her from firing, as she pointed down the street.

A trail of dust rose up as a vehicle of some kind approached. It quickly resolved itself into a low-running hovercraft, with three people on board. The vehicle skidded to a stop about twenty feet from where Jack and the Reaver were fighting, and while it was still moving a young girl launched herself from the hovercraft's safety rail, somersaulting to land on her hands, and then flipping forward to her bare feet with phenomenal grace. Not missing a step, she ducked to grab a bladed weapon from the ground as she charged towards the two combatants.

She swept down upon the Reaver, pulling it back by the hair and slicing its throat with brutal efficiency, turning as she did so, to pull the creature off its victim and throw it down to the ground. She came to a stop, her floaty purple dress still swirling as she froze, with her blade- a vicious scimitar- ready, eyes to the ship overhead. But nothing new came down, and instead the ship turned and fled the scene. When the girl saw this she relaxed, dropping the weapon and smiling down at Jack.

"Saved by a girl. Getting used to it yet?" she asked in a distant voice, tilting her head to one side, long black hair falling over one side of her face, and offering her left hand to help him up. Jack accepted the offer, and she pulled him to his feet easily. Well, more accurately, foot, as he was leaning heavily to the right. As soon as he was standing, she took his right arm, and pushed it back into its socket. "Broken enough without that." she murmured.

As Jack did something to his right forearm, to conceal the blades there, the Doctor noticed that he now had claw-marks criss-crossing over his chest, and another line of claw-marks down his right leg as well as his other injuries. As if completely oblivious to his wounds, however, Jack smiling at the girl, "Thank you." and then he introduced himself, "I'm Captain Jack Harkness."

"No thanks." the girl answered brightly, "But I'm River Tam." Jack stared at her for a second, clearly wondering why she had said 'no thanks'. It seemed obvious to the Doctor, though, since Captain Jack Harkness introducing himself usually amounted to an offer to sleep with him.

"_The _River Tam?" Jack asked, sounding surprised, "Story's been all over the Frontier, in the last month. You helped break the Miranda conspiracy?"

River nodded, "More to it than me." she glanced over her shoulder at the two men who had also arrived on the hovercraft.

Both were now standing only a few feet behind her, holding weapons ready in case the fight wasn't over. The slightly taller of the two had very short black hair, and four different guns strapped to him, along with belts of ammo everywhere he had room to put them, and the weapon in his hands was more reminiscent of a cannon than a gun.

The other man wore a brown coat, holding a classic revolver loosely in his hand, to show he wasn't overly concerned about imminent danger right now. He had hair that vaguely resembled a much neater version of the Doctor's, and his face gave the impression of 'obstinate mule' without even vaguely resembling the creature in question.

Jack turned to look at them, "Malcolm Reynolds?" he asked the one wearing the brown coat. His tone suggested awe and respect.

The man nodded, "Heard of us, have you?" he asked warily.

"Living legend." Jack said, smiling, "It's an honor to meet you."

Malcolm nodded curtly, "Not sure I'd say the same, 'less I know who you are." he pointed out.

"I'm the man who killed this lot before your pretty little ja hwo showed." Jack answered. The TARDIS was fuzzy on that translation, and the Doctor wasn't sure if it meant friend or weapon. Possibly both? River giggled at it, making him guess it really was intended to mean both.

Malcolm and the other man looked around at the many dead Reavers on the ground, and the other man nodded appreciatively, "Impressive."

"This is what we get for being late, Jayne, miss all the fun." Malcolm deadpanned to the other man, though it was clearly meant as a joke. The other man- Jayne? Isn't that a girl's name?- seemed only now to realise that this was, in his opinion perfectly true, and began to sulk a bit.

Jack smiled at Malcolm, "I believe my friend and I were negotiating for transport, 'least as far as Persephone, for ourselves and one piece of cargo, before this-" he waved at the dead Reavers all over the street, "-happened."

Malcolm nodded, "Seems fair enough." he conceded, "Five hundred. Cash."

Jack nodded, "Well, that's good." he said brightly, "Cause cash is all I've got. I lost my charge-card a few years back."

x x x


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**: I edited this chapter a bit, so I killed fewer people than I originally planned, because of Children of Earth. Poor Jack. And this from the woman who put our favourite Captain on a Reaver ship! Shows how effective that mini-series was at getting to the audience (the number of people in denial also testifies to that, heheh).

Reviews make me update. I'm an attention whore.

x x x

_2507-08-12; 1935 - Dauntless_

x x x

"That is a big gun." Erik pointed out. It was a bit of an understatement. Considering the size of their ship, it really was nothing short of overkill, and could possibly take out a vessel four times their size without needing to aim for vital systems. The large laser-based weapon was mounted in the cargo bay, and the reason the others hadn't noticed it before was because it had been tactfully hidden underneath a hollow cargo crate, and they'd never bothered to look.

"Never hurts to be prepared." the Captain said dismissively, "Number of times in the past, I could have used a nice big gun, and had to make do with a pea-shooter like this-" he patted one of the two pistols holstered at his waist, "-I've lost count."

Aside from those two pistols, he also had a knife in his left boot, and a smaller gun on his right ankle. None of the crew would be particularly surprised if he had other weapons concealed elsewhere, after the story he had told them about a hostile force that had managed to trick him into being naked before attacking, and he'd still managed to pull a weapon from somewhere best not thought too much about.

"So, the reason for the big gun, today?" Jason asked.

"Do you hear that?" the Captain asked, pointing to the cargo bay doors. Sure enough, there was loud banging on the hull, as if something was trying to break in, "Does it sound friendly to you?"

"So why not shoot 'em, normal?" Dana asked. Not that she'd ever held a gun in her life, before right now as she, Jason and Erik all had pistols which the Captain had handed out to them, but the question was still perfectly reasonable.

"Don't want to take any chances." the Captain said, smiling, "I don't want any of you getting hurt." It seemed strange that he didn't include himself, there- 'any of you', not 'any of us'- but none of them worried about that detail. The Captain turned the big laser to aim at the small door in the hull of their cargo bay, and glanced around, "Ready?" he asked, and all of them nodded warily, "Open the door."

The instant the door opened, several monsters piled in through it. Monsters was the only word for them. They looked humanoid, but they could not in any sensible way be mistaken for humans, no matter how hard one might look for it. The Captain fired the laser, and every one of the fiends was caught in its beam, disintegrating on the spot. Turned to dust. More swarmed in to take their place, and he fired again.

He had to fire twice more, taking out what could only be guessed at a few dozen of the creatures, before finally, the assault stopped, and the Captain warily stepped away from the laser, approaching the door. He looked outside, but quickly backed up, firing two shots as he did so. One of the creatures landed right at his feet, a bullet-hole in the middle of its forehead.

When the others warily approached, they saw another dead monster out in the otherwise empty docking bay. Outside their own ship, even the smell of the air silently screamed derelict. This was something straight out of a horror holo-vid, right here.

The Captain checked outside, once more, and nodded, "All clear." though his voice was subdued and cold, as if he was thinking exactly the same thing about the state of this ship. He knelt down next to the creature on the floor in front of him, and examined it with a scowl on his face. After a second, he pulled back the left sleeve of his coat, and used a strange device on his wrist- which he never seemed to take off, though none of them knew what it was for- to scan it, as well. Several seconds passed in silence, then he spoke quietly, "The readings say it's human."

"Sure don't look human." Dana pointed out.

"Nor did they seem to act it." the Captain agreed, "They charged as if they had no regard for self-preservation. And these-" he indicated scars across the creature's face, and other marks on its forearms, some of which had been pinned together with pieces of metal, "-I'm not sure if some of these are deformities, or if they're all mutilations. Definitely not right, either way."

"The teeth are mighty creepifying, too." Jason pointed out. It was true, the creature's teeth were filed into sharp points. All in all, this thing was not a pretty picture.

"That, I've actually seen something like, before." the Captain said, with a scowl, "But only on cannibals."

Dana squeaked, "Cannibals?"

"Only met things like that a couple of times." the Captain said, with a morbid smile, "And usually, they pause long enough to tell you they're gonna eat you, first."

The other three members of his crew looked at each other fearfully, "This is not good." Erik said with emphasis.

"No, it most definitely is not." the Captain agreed, standing up slowly. "Let's move out. The sooner we get out of here the better." he beckoned to the others, "Stay close, and if you see more of those things, shoot to kill."

They obeyed his instructions, albeit nervously. It was clear they were all terrified, but they knew this had to be done for them to escape.

The Captain led them across the docking bay to the controls for the magnetic grappler, "Ricky, break this."

"With pleasure." Erik said, setting to work on deactivating the device. It didn't take more than a minute, and soon they were moving on, vital control circuit-boards for the grappler safely in Erik's pocket.

x x x

The corridors were just as derelict-looking as the docking bay, and the eerie echo of every footstep was deafening. The Captain led them with confidence, through the maze, but stopped dead at the sound of a woman screaming nearby. The four exchanged a look, the Captain questioning them silently, did they want to investigate that, try to help the woman- it was clear that he did. The others nodded to show agreement.

As quietly as possible, the Captain stalked further down the corridor, stopping with his back to the wall right next to an open cabin door, beyond which seemed to be the origin of the screaming. He gave a gesture for the others to wait, and peered around the doorway.

Very quickly, with no audible reaction, but a stricken and disgusted look on his face, he pulled back, and after half a second to compose himself, he silently ordered them to wait. As soon as that order was given, he stepped out into the doorway, and fired a single shot into the room. The screaming continued, as he quickly entered the room, wearing a determined and angry expression that would make most sane folk run for cover if it was ever aimed their way.

By the time the others dared to follow, they saw the Captain kneeling next to a terrified and badly beaten woman, who looked to be in her thirties. She was covered by a blood-stained blanket, but if her bare shoulders were any indication, that was it. She was shaking badly, but the screaming had reduced to whimpering and crying.

Not far from her, another of the creatures lay face down on the ground, dead, with blood pouring from a bullet hole in its neck. When the Captain tried to draw the woman's attention, by gently touching her shoulder, she cringed away from him. "We won't hurt you." he promised.

She looked up suddenly, at his words. There were two diagonal cuts across her face, that looked like they must have happened in the last few days, but weren't bleeding. More recent-looking was the nasty bruise under her right eye, "You- you're not one of them?" it seemed more a statement than a question, and before he could answer, she kept talking, sobbing as she did so, "They don't talk, just- just snarl." she whimpered, sitting up slowly, clutching the sheet to her chest defensively, and staring at the Captain with fear and hope in her eyes.

"What happened to the ship?" he asked her gently.

"They- they came out of nowhere. Cut through the hull, and swarmed in." the woman sobbed, now leaning against the Captain, who carefully wrapped his arms around her, protectively. "They killed most of the crew. And then... th-they ate them."

"Cannibals." Jason whispered, horrified, in spite of the fact the suggestion had already been made. As if he hadn't really believed it when the Captain had mentioned the possibility earlier.

The Captain gently ran his fingers over the woman's tangled and bloodstained hair, trying to comfort her, "We'll get you out of here." he promised, "We've got a ship. We just need to disable their engines and get the codes for the docking bay."

But the woman looked up at him, terrified again, "The engine room is in the lower levels. There's hundreds of them down there!"

The Captain frowned, thinking for a second, before asking, "Do you know the docking bay codes?"

She nodded weakly, "Y-yes. Two-two-three-nine-six-five-three."

The Captain stared at her, as if only just seeing her for the first time, "Familiar number." he muttered, before nodding, "Alright, we'll go straight back to our ship. I'm pretty sure we can shoot out one of their engines as we leave."

The woman trembled, shaking with relief at the knowledge that they wouldn't have to go deeper into the ship, and she leaned against the Captain again, whispering over and over, "Thank you, thank you, thank you." until the words started to blur together.

He hugged her briefly, then stood, pulling her to her feet as he did, "Can you walk?" he asked, seeming fully prepared to sweep her up in his arms and carry her out of here if he needed to.

She nodded weakly, readjusting the sheet around her, until it resembled a toga. "I- I think so." and as she put weight on her own feet she nodded once more, "Yes." There was an air of determination about her, now. She was clearly desperate to escape this place, and they all agreed with her completely.

The Captain looked to Dana, "Keep an eye on her. I need to take point and shoot these things, if we see more of them."

Dana nodded weakly, stepping forward and putting an arm around the woman's shoulders protectively, "Come on. It'll be ok."

"What's your name, by the way?" the Captain asked, as they prepared to leave the room.

"Lucy. Lucy Black."

The Captain frowned at her, "Yeah... you look like a Lucy." he said quietly, gently touching the side of her face, very careful to avoid her injuries.

"You say that like you really knew people with our names that looked like us?" Erik observed. Of all the unsuitable places to be making that sort of social commentary.

"I did." the Captain said, smiling weakly, "Although, with you, his name was really Mickey, we called him Ricky to annoy him."

"It works." Erik noted bluntly.

"What about me?" Jason asked.

"Jay was a lot like you." the Captain said, nodding, "Except he dyed his hair blond and swore a lot more. Every other word, in fact." Jason smiled weakly, and might have laughed it if weren't for their current situation.

"You didn't say you knew anyone with my name?" Dana pointed out, making it a question by her tone.

"You're new." the Captain said with a faint smile, "New is good, I don't see enough of it these days."

"This- this Lucy you knew." Lucy asked, "What happened to her?"

"I didn't know her that well, just saw her around a few times." the Captain answered, dismissing the subject, as he led the group back out into the corridor.

x x x

The Captain led his crew, and Lucy, down the deserted corridors of the derelict ship, carefully watching and listening for any sign of the monsters that had taken over here. It was slow going, and Lucy was incredibly jumpy, though she was smart enough to be quiet about her- perfectly justified, if you thought about it- moments of panic.

They made it back to the docking bay without trouble. Unfortunately, trouble was waiting for them in the docking bay itself. At least two dozen of the monsters were swarming around the ship, though strangely none seemed to have entered it. As if they knew no one was there. Maybe they could smell human blood? That would be bad, and would make it very difficult to hide, if it were true.

The Captain watched around the doorway for a second, before coming to a conclusion, and reloading his main pistol, to ensure that he had the maximum number of shots available. The monsters were making enough noise that he was safely able to whisper to the others, "I'm going to distract them, you will all run for the ship when I say so. Erik get the suit on and man the laser, Dana make sure Lucy is safe, and Jason get to the cockpit."

The fact he had said their chosen names instead of the nicknames he had come up with showed how serious this situation was. The Captain usually joked around most of the time, and the nicknames had been a part of that, the sudden loss of that element of humour- however annoying it had been- was disconcerting.

He looked at them carefully, his eyes turning to Erik, "Shoot any of them that you can with the laser-" then to Jason, "-take off as soon as possible, get above them, so they can't get inside-" back to the doorway, and he didn't show the slightest sign of fear, as he added, "-I'll get on board at the last second. And make sure you don't open those bay doors till our inner cargo-door is sealed. Dohn la ma?"

Three of them nodded warily, but Dana had to ask, "Are you sure you'll be ok?"

"I've fought worse numbers before." he answered dismissively.

Dana frowned, but then nodded slowly to show she would obey his orders.

The Captain held both guns ready, as he asked, "Ready?" four nods were his answer, and he peered around the door again, scanning the area and calculating a line of attack.

Then he stepped out and fired, alternating weapons, so the gunfire became a near-constant sound. But they could all see that there was a deliberate and calm look in his eyes as he fired. He had proved to be a crack-shot on three of these things so far, and the rest of his crew had no doubt that he was hitting his targets now, even with so many enemies to choose from. He stepped forward as he fired, out of their line of sight.

"Go! Now!" he shouted, and Jason bolted out first, seeing that all of the monsters were focused on the Captain, who now had his back to the wall, moving around the docking bay with a deliberate pace, to their left. There was a clear path to the ship to Jason's right, and he ran that way. Dana and Lucy quickly followed, then Erik as well.

The first three made it to the ship, but the Captain did not look like he was going to get past the swarm of monsters. He had now run out of bullets, and was fighting with just a knife. Even with the obvious military skill and discipline he displayed, he was barely succeeding in defending himself. No one man should be able to take on that many and make it out alive, even though by this point the corpses already outnumbers the live monsters.

Erik hesitated, still only half-way to the Dauntless, even the ship's engines fired up. The Captain was surrounded by six of these monsters, and one of them got past his defences, dragging him to the ground, his shout nearly drowned out by their snarling.

The sensible thing to do would have been to follow orders, get to the laser and blast the lot of these fiends, but this was the first time in his life that Erik had found himself in a real combat situation, and his reaction was to fire his gun- the pea-shooter that the Captain had been so derogatory about- at the nearest of these creatures.

He missed, and three of them- including the one he'd been aiming at- turned and charged at him, he didn't have any chance to get away, and he screamed. The Captain kicked out hard at the one that had tried to pin him, and turned just in time to see Erik being ripped limb from limb. The three that had set upon him were now tearing at his flesh with their teeth, proving just how rabid these animals really were.

The Captain quickly leapt to his feet and lashed out with his dagger at the three that were still attacking him, striking one with a glancing blow to the arm, and another with a shallow cut to the face. But they quickly managed overpowered him, forcing him to drop the dagger, and dragging him away from his ship and the only escape route.

"Captain!" Dana shouted from the doorway of the Dauntless, which now hovered overhead, out of reach of these creatures... he hoped.

"Get out of here!" he shouted to her, "Now!"

With a pained look, she obeyed his order, sealing the interior door to the Dauntless, and pulling on the space-suit, so that she could work the laser. There was still the little detail of the Cerberus' engines that needed to be dealt with. Almost as soon as she had sealed her suit, an alarm sounded indicating that the docking bay doors were about to open.

Unlike things you see in science-fiction, real space-ships of this time were not equipped with force-fields on their docking bays. If that door opened, everything in the bay would be sucked out into the black. Having seen and heard what these creatures did to their victims, he kind of hoped for that option, kicking and struggling against them as they determinedly dragged him towards the 'safety' of the corridor.

He felt the vacuum begin to pull on him just as the doors hissed shut to seal off the docking bay. They had only just made it out of there in time, and he really wished they hadn't. The other three surviving monsters had even had the presence of mind- if that was an accurate term for it- to drag Erik's corpse in from the docking bay as well.

x x x

_Translation:  
_Dohn la ma?: are we clear?

**Author's Note**: 2239653, on a cell-phone, spells Bad Wolf. At least, on my cellphone it does. Probably a crappy application of the theory, but meh.

x x x


	4. Chapter 4

x x x

_2519-10-15; 1430 - Serenity_

x x x

Jack Harkness sat calmly in the infirmary of Malcolm Reynolds' ship, while Jayne and the Doctor were loading the TARDIS into the cargo bay. He watched the young ship's medic, Simon Tam, who was tending his wounds. Very handsome, the dark-brooding sort, but still very young. Knew what he was doing, too. And he had a better bedside manner than most medics Jack had dealt with.

"It's a miracle you were able to walk after this." Simon pointed out, as he set the broken bone.

"I've had worse." Jack answered dismissively, "This's just a few scratches."

"You're either very brave, or very foolish. Possibly both." Simon said coldly, "Taking on an army of Reavers on your own."

"Only twenty-seven, hardly an army. Looked like more, but I did count them." Jack said, smiling, "Didn't get a scratch, until that last one. You didn't see him, big guy, smarter than your average Reaver."

"Hmmm." Simon mumbled, moving to examine the cuts on Jack's chest, "Nee tzao se mah?"

Jack just grinned, "You doctors are all alike." Simon looked up at him, confused by that statement, "Think I have a death wish. Also, very hot."

Simon blinked, startled, "Shen muh?"

Jack laughed, shaking his head, "Nevermind."

Just then, the Doctor walked into the infirmary, "For the record, I heard ever word."

Jack looked up at him, smiling innocently, "Your point?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Bi jweh." he said dismissively, clearly having picked up the local sort-of-bi-lingual behaviour very quickly. He wandered over to lean against the wall to Jack's right, while Simon continued to apply some sort of healing ointment to the claw-marks on Jack's chest. The Doctor watched, impassively, until Simon was finished, before speaking again, "Care to tell me what these are?" he asked, indicating Jack's right arm.

"Concealed weapon." Jack said simply, matter-of-fact, as if it was a perfectly normal thing, "Spring-loaded. Sharp enough to split a hair."

"Inside your arm." the Doctor insisted.

Simon look at them both, startled, "A bladed weapon that cuts the one wielding it, every time it's drawn?" he asked, "Good way to catch something."

Jack actually laughed at that, a short bark-like laugh with no genuine humour in it, "I have good immunities."

"_You _would need them." the Doctor pointed out, only half-joking, but then he turned serious again, asking, "Why did you do that to yourself?"

"I needed a weapon no one could take away from me... and when I designed it, I was in a place where a bit more pain really wasn't going to make that much of a difference." Jack answered distantly, but with a note of finality in his tone, as if that was all he intended to say.

"Such as?" the Doctor insisted. Jack didn't answer, sat in perfect silence, staring determinedly at the wall opposite him. Eventually, the Doctor lost patience, "Jack!" he snapped, the command in his voice clear.

Slowly, Jack turned to look at him, "You do not want to know." he said in perfect seriousness.

x x x

A few hours and absolutely no explanation later, the Doctor sat in the small dining area of Serenity, next to Jack. The ship's crew were all gathered there, too, except for Kaylee.

"Seems a mite strange." Mal pointed out, indicating the Doctor as he continued, "That we find him on Lilac, and he don't know what Reavers are."

"He's done stranger." Jack said, shrugging dismissively.

"Doesn't change the fact." Mal noted, "An' now we're headed into the Core for somethin' you two don't seem inclined to share the details on."

Jack smiled warmly, though once again the Doctor got the feeling that the emotion there was false, an act, "We're paying you, aren't we?"

"Not near enough for a trip to Londinium, when there may still be a price on our heads." Mal retorted.

"I did ask for 'least to Persephone, you offered the rest." Jack pointed out, "And we can pay more if we need to."

"Persephone's not so safe for us to hit dirt on, either." Mal said bluntly, but then he shrugged and asked, "What's so special on Londinium?"

"Not sure yet." Jack answered honestly, "But it's of interest to me, and the Alliance probably shouldn't have it."

"Can't argue with the part about the Alliance ought not to have it." Jayne noted, "Alliance ought not to have a lot of things, as we figured from Miranda."

"Yes, tell me about Miranda." Jack asked, immediately, "I've been stuck out on Lilac for the last year or so. I only heard the rumours, never saw the vid I know was circulated. I just know that something big went down, it upset the Alliance, and you were the ones who let the secret out."

"Miranda's where the Reavers came from." Mal said, frowning, "River here got into the heads of some people involved in the conspiracy, and led us right to it all."

Zoe- Mal's second in command- continued, "Some government-funded experiment killed the whole planet, save for point-zero-one percent that turned into Reavers. Covered it all up, no one woulda known if we hadn't done what we did."

"How did they turn people into those mindless monsters?" the Doctor asked.

"They used a chemical in the air." Simon answered, "G-23 Paxilon Hydrochlorate. It was meant to calm the population and 'weed out aggression'." he actually employed air-quotes as well as a sarcastic tone, there, "Those that calmed down didn't do much else. Ever again. The rest had the opposite reaction."

"Now how about you tell us who you really are?" Mal asked, looking to Jack, who had shown very little surprise at their explanation of the Reavers.

"That's a very long story. For your sake, I won't start at the beginning." Jack said, trying and failing to smile at that, "I've spent a long time working for an organisation you've probably never even heard of. We're above the government, even the Prime Minister doesn't have the authority to mess with us." he shot a brief glance at the Doctor, as he said that, which none of the crew seemed to understand. The Doctor didn't show a sign he understood the joke there either, though he did know what Jack was implying, "Unfortunately, we never had the resources to challenge Alliance methods directly... though your Miranda stunt might change that, as soon as I get back."

Mal scowled, "What's it called?"

"Torchwood." Jack answered.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, leaning his head back, "They're still around?"

"I actually run that organisation, last I checked." Jack said, a bit smugly, "And my seconds aren't stupid enough to declare me dead and change leadership." he then turned his attention back to the rest of the crew, "If we get to Londinium, I can assure you the Alliance will not bother you... well, not after I give them my identification, anyway. Might threaten a bit before that."

Jayne glared, "You're an Operative, ain't ya?"

"No. Operatives work for the Parliament. I do not." Jack answered, smiling darkly, "Usually, I'm the most dangerous person in any room, but right now I'm only third." he added with a laugh.

River smiled, "Flattered." she said brightly.

The rest of Serenity's crew looked around trying to figure who else he was talking about, and soon all eyes rested on the Doctor, who was now trying to look innocent. It might have worked if he hadn't looked so fascinated with the ceiling while they were staring at him. After several seconds of silence, the Doctor acted like he'd only just noticed he was being stared at, and looked around, "What?"

"Cap'n." Kaylee said, appearing in the doorway, "I think we've got a problem with makin' straight for Londinium."

"Problem, how?" Mal asked, and much to the Doctor's relief everyone's attention was drawn away from him for now.

"We ain't got enough fuel." Kaylee said bluntly, "Gotta stop off somewhere to get more."

"It's not that safe to hit planet-side from the border in, since the Operative went after our various acquaintances." Zoe pointed out.

"I personally accounted for damages to the training house on Sihnon." Inara offered, smiling faintly, "And as I am still technically a member of the Guild, sabbatical or no, Serenity will still be welcome there."

Kaylee nodded eagerly, "We can make it there. Might land on fumes, but it's doable."

"Sihnon it is, then." Mal said, a slight scowl on his face regardless of the cheer in his tone, as though something Inara had said had upset him.

"Nice." Jayne said, grinning, "Any chance of-"

"No." Inara snapped at him. Her tone remained perfectly civilised, but there was a venom behind it that made even Jayne cringe just a little.

Jayne muttered something under his breath, in retort, which the Doctor didn't actually hear.

Clearly Inara did, however, as she turned on him in an instant, and hissed at him, finally losing a little bit of her composure, "Lai huh moh sheong tze tian uh zoh, chwen!"

"Jayne!" Mal snapped, as the mercenary made to retort, "You might wanna be shutting up right now." Jayne glared, but then sulkily nodded. Mal turned to the temporarily smug Inara, and added, "Still doesn't mean I dislike your profession any less."

x x x

"So what was that about?" the Doctor asked, once he and Jack were left alone. They were sitting in one of the small living quarters, which only had a single bed and a chair. This particular room had been assigned to Jack, for the duration of their journey. The Doctor occupied the chair, so Jack sat on the bed, leaning against the wall.

"Inara?" Jack asked, grinning. His humour still felt false, but the Doctor decided not to comment on it. If Jack was hiding something it wasn't really any of his business, was it? "Of course, you've not heard of the Guild, have you?" he laughed, "Alright I suppose I should explain that before you go and say something stupid."

"Preferably before you insult my intelligence, too." the Doctor noted pointedly, smiling anyway.

"Right. It's called the Companion's Guild." Jack said, smirking as the Doctor winced slightly, clearly recognising the 'something stupid' he could so easily have said. "They're a very exclusive, high-class organisation, and when they pull their resources they can even stand their ground against government intervention, which is saying something."

The Doctor nodded, "So what do they do?"

"Many people accuse them of being high-class whores." Jack said bluntly, causing the Doctor to scowl, "Which is a very unkind assessment. Companions generally contract with the elite of society, and have the power and right to be incredibly selective about their clients. A person who can successfully contract a Companion to escort them to a formal function will usually boast about this fact, they're that exclusive. Their basic goal is stated as being able to meet any desires of their clients... within reason. I've met Companions who will only contract with people who have platonic intentions." he smirked faintly, "And when I say met, I mean as a client."

"Because _you _would never need to pay for sex." the Doctor added, trying to sound innocent.

Jack shrugged, his expression clearly saying 'I knew that, so what?' "There's this one girl, in particular, Caroline... brilliant martial art sparring partner, great sense of humour, too. Male Companions are kind of rare, but-"

The Doctor pointedly cleared his throat, cutting off Jack's monologue, and then asked, "So when you said 'within reason'...?"

"There's a list of things they don't do." Jack said, shrugging, "But it's not that long. The Guild is a semi-religious organisation, they don't believe in violence, and they will not cause harm to any living thing- asking a Companion to do so will get you barred from the entire Guild's client list for life- although I have heard that there's a select few Companions who claim to be masochists. Beyond the basic tenet of not harming others, what a Companion will or will not do is based on personal choice, and made known to potential clients before they apply for a contract. But it's very rare to find them roaming around outside the Guild houses in the Core Worlds, like Inara does."

The Doctor shook his head, but then shrugged, "Doesn't sound as bad as the initial generalisation."

"And if you like tea, you should make friends with Inara. The Guild is the only source of real tea in the system. The Blue Sun synthetic stuff is disgusting, and their coffee is worse." Jack added, with a grimace at the memory of trying to find good coffee in this system. It just didn't exist. But he knew perfectly well just how much the Doctor liked tea.

"Well I'll need to talk to her, then." the Doctor said, with a nod.

"And the Guild is based on Sihnon." Jack continued, "I've heard it's a beautiful world, but in spite of spending the last three hundred years in this system, I've never been."

x x x

Translations:  
Nee tzao se mah?: you wanna die?  
Shen muh?: what?  
Bi jweh: shut up  
Huen dahn: bastard  
Lai huh moh sheong tze tian uh zoh: have desires above one's social position  
Chwen: dumbass

x x x


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note**: You must all have guessed by now that the Captain is Jack, right? Cause otherwise... do you even _watch _the new Doctor Who? Lol.

x x x

_2507-08-12; 2100 - Cerberus_

x x x

The monsters dragged the Captain through many corridors, down to the lower levels of the ship, and as much as he fought, the three of them were stronger than the one of him. It wasn't long before he found himself thrown into a room that felt distinctly like a dungeon. A metal dungeon, but still a dungeon. It might actually have been comparable to a meat-locker, as well, considering the chains hanging from the ceiling... but right now there was nothing else here but himself, Erik's dead body, and two of these monsters.

As soon as he was thrown to the floor, he jumped to his feet, still ready to fight.

The two monsters between him and the door didn't attack right away, giving him a chance to really look at them. The shorter one was wiry, with jagged bits of metal piercing its face, mostly around the eyes, and it had a bloodied tangle of hair that might once have been blond or fair, but now looked like red-stained dreadlocks.

The other was much larger, both in height and muscle mass, looming over Jack by about half a foot. And loom, it did, very effectively. Its skin was blackened, as if it had been in a fire, but then he realised that the burns formed erratic but clearly defined patterns on its face, so were probably deliberate. It had a line of what looked like barbed wire down one side of its face, and sharp jagged bits of metal protruded from underneath its fingernails, like artificial claws.

He did his best not to show fear, and he didn't back down as they approached him, snarling. A quick death would be preferable, here, he was sure. Somehow he doubted that was going to happen.

The shorter monster made a very brief snapping-snarling sound, and the larger creature growled low in the back of its throat. The shorter one backed down, and edged around the room away from the others. It started to gnaw on an arm of the corpse on the floor. The Captain pointedly looked away from that, biting back the pain at the loss of yet another friend, and focusing instead on the other creature, which appeared to be in charge here. The growling sounded almost like a form of communication.

He barely registered the guttural snarl from the monster before it was on him, pinning him to the ground with those claws digging into his arms. He tried to fight back, but it easily overpowered him, pulling a metal spike from somewhere in that leather outfit. With what must have been a practiced skill, it held his arms and drove the spike through his right wrist, left palm, and a good two inches into the floor, in one motion.

He yelled in pain and tried to kick out at it, anyway, but it had him pinned. It began to claw at him, ripping his shirt and tearing at the skin beneath, but with great effort he forced himself not to scream again. Practice makes perfect, and certain sadistic bastards he couldn't really name- two of them- had been very disappointed at his ability to resist the primal instinct to scream when tortured. At least most of the time.

Considering its behaviour was comparable to sadism, it surprised him- when he finally caught his breath- to find that the monster didn't look like it was enjoying this, more like he had personally offended it somehow and it was still mad as hell.

As if to emphasise this impression, it roared in his face, and he turned his head to one side, unable to resist the urge to ask, "Ever heard of a breath mint?" It came from past experience with the aforementioned sadists, none of whom liked being talked back to, and it would always put them off their game.

Except right now. This creature didn't seem to care what he was saying, it only wanted to cause him harm. With the shredded remains of his shirt only clinging to his chest because of the blood that soaked it, the fiend now tore at his belt, causing him to wince as metal claws sank into his waist.

"You know you're really not my type." he managed to say, in spite of the pain of his injuries so far, "And that _is _saying something." It ignored his words and continued to claw at him, so he continued, hoping to distract himself from the situation as much as anything else, "You could at least buy me dinner first."

He heard a snarl that might have passed for humourless laughter from the shorter of the two creatures, and glanced its way to see it was still gnawing on a severed limb.

"Or maybe not." he said weakly, now having difficulty keeping his breathing even through the pain. He was pretty sure it was just trying to rip and tear at his clothing, but it caught his skin with those claws with every move. Continuing to speak, in an attempt to antagonise them would not be possible. And probably wouldn't work anyway. So for now, he focused on remaining conscious, and tried to figure out a way to get them to kill him quickly.

He waited until the creature's claws were not near anything he would regret being cut. As soon as the opportunity presented itself- and it didn't take very long- he bucked his hips, throwing the creature back just enough to free one leg. Which he immediately used to kick the creature in the face, breaking its nose and sending it sprawling across the floor on its back. Somehow he got the impression that it was howling in rage rather than pain, though it didn't get back up immediately.

Before he could try to free his hands, or even come up with a witty one-liner, the other one snarled and pounced on him, pulling a knife and holding it to his throat. He cringed back from the knife, giving the illusion of fear, and the slighter creature fell for the ruse, pushing the knife closer to his neck, almost drawing blood.

He laughed, with his last breath, and lunged upwards into the blade, turning his head so it sliced through the major blood-vessels and his windpipe in one motion. He felt a sense of cruel amusement at the creatures' enraged howls as he fell into the blissful oblivion of death.

x x x

Jack Harkness had no way of knowing how long he had been dead. What he was aware of right now, was that many sharp and pointy somethings were cutting into his skin. He had probably been fine until he'd started breathing again, but now, moving made him painfully aware of the fact that he was buried in the middle of a pile of something very sharp and brittle.

He moved one arm up to protect his eyes, before opening them, and earned several nasty scratches to the arm in question for his trouble. When he did open his eyes, he saw very faint light filtering down from above, just enough to see what he was buried in. A pile of broken bones. The closest ones, which he got a far better look at than he really wanted, had clearly been stripped clean and then gnawed on.

If he had been in that state, when he was dumped here... there really was no way to tell how long it had taken him to resurrect. He knew that the more damage involved and time taken to die, the longer it took him to come back. He really tried not to think about it too much, it wasn't the first time he'd been very badly mutilated after death, but it was definitely the first time that involved cannibals.

Whatever happened to his body when he was dead did not concern him, he would always force himself to believe that. He almost always healed completely before resurrecting, so he never had any way of knowing, and he had an imagination that could conjure the most despicable thoughts if given free reign. It might just drive him insane to think about even the lesser atrocities, such as the 'alien autopsy' the first time Torchwood had found him, let alone what these creatures likely did to those they killed.

He grit his teeth against the inevitable pain, and began to fight his way out towards the light. It took far too long, and when he finally fell to the cold metal floor he was covered in scratches and scrapes, many of which had cut quite deep. And now, he realised that he was also naked. Still, at least he was alone.

He should have known better than to even think that, however. Almost as soon as it had crossed his mind, he heard uneven footsteps from the far side of the pile of bones. He fought with his conscience for only a second, before picking up one of the sharper bones, to use as a weapon, and edged around the room to see what was approaching.

It was one of the creatures, dragging a tattered bag that had bits of bone sticking out of it. The creature itself seemed to have a limp, which gave its movement the loping quality of a wounded wild dog. Easy prey, a part of his mind thought, but he quickly shoved that idea aside. True, it may be, but he would not allow himself to think of it in those terms.

He had to get off this ship, and there were two options that came to mind. Find and steal a shuttle somewhere on the docking level, or find an airlock and hope to hit a planet with oxygen before one of the seven suns in this system. Technically, only five of those suns were orbited by inhabited worlds, and no one usually counted the other two, but he would certainly count them as potential hazards to that escape plan. He liked the first option far better, but still preferred the second to remaining in the company of these monsters.

Fact remained, though, this ship was freezing, and until he could get to one of his two escape routes, he would not want to freeze to death. Clothing was not optional. So as the creature turned its back directly to him, he crept up behind it and stabbed it in the neck, dropping the primative but effective weapon as soon as he did so.

Only now did it cross his mind that his scanner had said these were human. But they didn't act it, and seemed more like the 'Futurekind' he had seen on Malcassairo- bit less rational, but still it was the closest comparison he could come up with. Either way, didn't matter now. They weren't human, whatever the scans had said. He continued to fight between his conscience and survival instincts- weakened as they were from his immortality, his survival instincts were still winning right now- as he knelt next to the dead monster.

The leather that this creature wore was far too soft to be normal, and his instant assumption- when did he get so damn morbid, anyway?- was that it was most likely human skin. Still, he didn't have much choice, right now, repulsive though the thought was. He tried to tune out his disgust, as he stole the monster's clothing and bladed weapons, then threw it behind the pile of bones where he hoped it wouldn't be found.

x x x

Unfortunately, it wasn't so easy as he'd thought to get off the ship. In spite of dressing like one of them, he certainly did not look the part, and the first creature to cross his path did try to attack him. He defended himself, which meant killing it. One on one, it wasn't even close to a match for him.

After that, he chose to try hiding. Stealth had never been his strong suit, usually he preferred to face battle head on, or avoid it with smooth words. Talking his way out of danger wasn't going to be possible, and charging into a fight with these creatures was not something he wanted to try again if he could possibly avoid it. Especially not without some sort of weapon on the scale of his ship's laser gun.

He made a conscious decision to assume that the Dauntless had escaped safely. He had no proof, but the idea of more of his friends being captured by these monsters was not something he wanted to contemplate. He wouldn't wish those things on his worst enemy. Oh, there was competition for that title, but it didn't matter which one he thought of, he'd still not wish any of them to cross these monsters.

He managed to find the most popular infiltration method of any ship or building, the ventilation ducts, and spent a great deal of time hiding there. He could avoid direct conflict this way, easily enough, though they didn't go everywhere on the ship in one go, he had to cross corridors more often than he'd like.

He didn't even try to find food on the ship, he doubted anything that a civilised being could consider edible could be found. Instead, he found safe locations, and allowed his curse to sustain him, dying of starvation and resurrecting in perfect health. This went on for what felt like an eternity. Just as he thought he'd found a way off the ship, he discovered that it was a false lead.

These creatures thoroughly cannibalised their own ship as well as their victims, blocking corridors that should be passable, cutting holes through interior walls. Jack might not have minded so much, but they paid no heed to updating the computer systems, which he relied on hacking into to navigate through the ship.

He stopped keeping count of how many times he had died here, or how many of these monsters he'd killed. Or how many times he had broken down and cried- silently, still aware enough to avoid making noise that might allow them to find him- at the hopelessness of this situation. He even lost track of time. Far too often, he heard screaming- more of these creatures' victims- but without a way off the ship himself, how could he save them? He hated that the most, feeling helpless to protect the innocent victims here.

He had seen people try to kill themselves when these creatures had captured them. Within a few days after his first resurrection on this ship, he'd gotten past his conscience and admitted to himself that it was better than living through what would be done to them here. He'd even helped them die quickly when he'd been able to. Death- even the permanent kind- would certainly be preferable to what he'd seen these things do to their victims.

Honestly, he'd gotten off lightly, so far, a few nasty cuts from bladed weapons- nothing he hadn't had worse than before- and one killing blow, which, considering the fact that he had effectively controlled that, had been quick and clean for a knife. He certainly would kill these victims, now, rather than leave them to suffer at the hands- or claws- of these creatures, given even half a chance.

But eventually he lost his composure, when he found one of the monsters alone, mauling a human- skinning the man alive- and he had attacked to defend the human from such torture. The monster he had attacked was one of the two he had seen in the dungeon before, the shorter one, and it managed to fend him off far more effectively than the others he had killed here. Strategy and defense, something the others had failed to display any concept of.

But it had reacted with surprise, as if it actually recognised him. Intelligence in spite of the rabid rage. It had ignored its victim, instead launching itself on Jack, and using the same knife it had used to cut up the original victim to stab him in the shoulder.

Jack retaliated with one of the two vicious jagged daggers he had taken from other monsters, stabbing this one in the arm, forcing it to lose its grip on its own weapon. Blood poured down over him from the wounded creature, but he ignored it. Its moment of distraction was enough for him to throw it off, and he stood up- the dagger still imbedded in his shoulder- to move in for the kill.

But then he was grabbed from behind. The big guy, which had also been there the first day he had been on this ship. He tried to elbow it in the gut, but it didn't react at all to the blow. Yet both of them now stopped attacking him. The big guy restrained him, but didn't do anything else.

Very slowly, when he realised they weren't attacking anymore and he wasn't going to get away from them, he allowed himself to relax just a little. To calm down and think instead of just fighting.

"What changed?" he asked, genuine confusion taking priority over the pain of his wounds, as the adrenalin that had made him keep fighting started to wear off, "Second ago you wanted to rip me apart. But, now?"

The shorter one snarled, a low but not entirely threatening sound, and stepped closer to him. He let out a hiss of pain as it retrieved its dagger from his shoulder, but it didn't make any move to use the weapon on him again. It seemed to be sniffing him. Several seconds passed in ominous silence, then it growled again. He couldn't understand it, but he was certain it was actual communication rather than just animal sounds. The big guy answered with a snarl of its own, and loosened its grip, but not enough for Jack to break free. He did try.

The shorter one growled again, looking at Jack now, as if trying to communicate directly with him.

"I don't speak rabies." Jack sniped.

The big guy dug its claws into his arms, and he got that message loud and clear. Don't try to be funny.

"Alright, alright." Jack hissed, cringing at this new pain. He was surprised when it answered his plea by loosening its grip, so the claws stopped cutting into his arms, "Seriously, what's going on?" he suddenly felt so tired, now, and it did show in his voice.

The shorter one growled once more, this time pointing to Jack's wounded shoulder, with a hand that was curled, claw-like, but otherwise unmutilated, and sniffing the air again.

"No." he said, but his voice was weak, now. He wanted to deny what he thought it was trying to tell him, and to find out why these two were acting like they weren't entirely mindless animals, but suddenly it didn't seem all that important. He understood what it meant, it was implying that the blood would turn him into one of them- very vampiric, really- and he knew that was bad. Yet, somehow, he just didn't want to fight anymore.

He was always fighting, so tired of it. He felt so... empty. No reason to continue. His eyelids started to feel heavy, so he closed his eyes... and then there was nothing.

x x x


	6. Chapter 6

x x x

_2519-10-19; 1715 - Serenity_

x x x

"Reavers." River Tam said calmly. It was a simple and emotionless statement. One word, holding so much fear over so many.

She was sitting across the table from the Doctor and Captain Jack, in the mess area of Serenity. Jayne was watching them from the doorway, suspiciously. The Doctor was actually eating some of the synthesised protein food-like substance that passed for nutrition on ships like this. Admittedly, it was better than starving to death... but not by very much. Jack turned his attention to the girl as soon as she said it.

"Howling plague. Kind, all the same." she continued, "Refinin' redefinin', redesignin'. Reavin' blood and souls."

Jack tilted his head to one side. Howling plague was a familiar term to him. It had been the rather vague explanation, after the fact, for what had attacked his home-world. He'd heard stories, but never directly seen the creatures that had chased him and taken his brother... so very long ago.

"Kind?" the Doctor asked, picking up on the deviation of her speech pattern. It felt to Jack like she should have said 'kind of the same', but that wasn't what she'd really said.

"Future, call themselves Kind." River corrected, "Don't know better."

Jack and the Doctor exchanged a look at this, and Jack spoke first, "That's... ah... new information."

"What's she on about now?" Jayne demanded.

"Nothing you would want to know." Jack muttered, scowling at River as he processed this new information. Reavers, made in this sector of space by something so simple and foolish as human error, had been the creatures to destroy his home, and they would last just as efficiently as humanity itself, to the end of the universe. He knew that should be a very scary thought.

But he remembered some of the things Gray had told him about that, which sure matched up to Reavers.

"Live to torture." River said, quoting Jack's own memory, and nodding solemnly, before adding her own twist on them, "Run 'fore they can walk. Only talkin' at the end of it all."

Jack knew it was inappropriate, but her words brought the line of a song to his mind, and he quoted it, "Gotta learn to dance before you learn to crawl."

River grinned, standing up and spinning on the spot as she sang a different line of the same song, probably having read it in his mind, "Don't worry 'bout the future, sooner or later it's the past, if they say the thrill is gone then it's time to take it back!" she danced out of the room, leaving the three men to stare after her in surprise.

"No sense at all. Not to mention creepifying as hell, at that." Jayne grumbled, turning his attention back to the other two.

"Actually, I followed every word of that conversation." Jack said, smiling and pretending that he didn't have a painful memory so closely associated with River's words. He knew by now that the Doctor could tell when he was faking an emotion, especially one connected to a smile or a laugh. Jack saw the flicker of concern in his eyes, but the Time Lord had the good manners and sense not to question him on it.

"Sit down and make yourself comfortable, Jayne." the Doctor offered, "I know your captain wants you to watch us, doesn't mean you need to skulk in the doorway to do it."

Jayne scowled, but sat at the far end of the table from the other two, resting one of his guns on the table where they could both see it and he could easily reach it. "You said you had connections." Jayne growled, watching Jack carefully, "Like who?"

"Well." Jack said, drawing that word out as he carefully considered what to share, "I run Torchwood, which is technically government-funded, but the Parliament doesn't get a say in what we do. Usually, we don't bother them and they don't bother us, but there have been incidents in the past. They tried to shut us down when the Independence war started, thought we might go off and support the good guys, instead of backing our loving government. We went underground during that time, didn't interfere... except for one of my agents, but I really don't want to talk about _him _right now."

"They a big player in the core, then? This Torchwood?" Jayne asked.

"We try not to draw too much attention, but basically yes." Jack said with a nod.

"Sounds impressive." Jayne conceded.

"If they tried to shut you down during the war, where do you get your funding from now?" the Doctor asked.

"Blue Sun." Jack said with a shrug, "I have... friends there."

"No one makes _friends _with Blue Sun." Jayne pointed out, "Business relationships, usually nothin' good for anyone but the Blue Sun itself. They don't do friends."

"Let's just say I made a good impression on their management, a long time ago." Jack said dismissively. Blue Sun was a big corporation, the absolute definition of capitalist monopoly, providing every possible necessity for survival on border and frontier worlds, with no market competition whatsoever. Its bosses were very dangerous people, you cross Blue Sun, they make you disappear.

Jack had introduced himself to the founder of the company- a very influential man from the Sino side of the Alliance founding council- back when the border worlds were still being terraformed. The man in question had taken a dislike to his attitude (just because Jack flirted with him), and ordered him to be executed.

Jack's practically instantaneous resurrection had played to all the founder's old superstitions, and instilled a very healthy dose of fear in the man. The more powerful the Blue Sun had become, the more of a point Jack made to maintain such a direct relationship with their leaders. Blue Sun knew Jack didn't die, but they were far too afraid of him to try to use it as blackmail.

"Don't believe you." Jayne said bluntly.

Jack shrugged, "You don't need to. I was just answering the Doctor's question."

x x x

It had been nine days, now, since they had left Lilac, and the Doctor was bored. He had learned from Kaylee exactly how this ship stayed in the sky... very much the same way as the TARDIS, constant in-flight maintenance, the tactful application of blunt objects to the casings of uncooperative systems, an unhealthy dose of dumb luck, and a fair amount of duct tape.

He had lurked around the medical bay long enough to learn from Simon Tam just how some of the less familiar bits of medical equipment worked. The field bandages were particularly interesting.... very efficient, though not entirely practical for long-term healing, as they would leave a more noticeable scar than a sonic healing ray. He had then gone on to describe such technology- which was common on Earth in this time, but apparently not so much out here- to Simon.

Then he had spent time talking to River about her ability to see things that even he couldn't. During the course of the conversation, she had called him by every single alias he had used in his many lives, and hinted at being able to see his real name as well. She had also gone on to talk to him about Gallifreyan history, as if she had been right there with him when he had learned it all himself. Very disconcerting. She even mentioned the Time War, though seemed to know it would be too painful for him to go into details, and had politely refrained from doing so.

Inara had been fascinating, showing excellent skill in reading other people's body-language. She told him that Jack was acting strangely, and he agreed, pointing out that while he was clearly acting a part, the worrying thing was that he was also acting like himself. They had discussed human psychology for hours, and she had introduced him to some of the best tea in the universe.

He had talked to Jayne for all of five minutes, before deciding the most interesting thing about the mercenary was his unusual name... sure, Jayne knew all there was to know about guns in this star-system's history since the terraforming, but that wasn't of much interest to the Doctor. That very one-sided conversation had been interrupted by River showing up and singing a song about Jayne himself, which infuriated the mercenary, but not enough for him to actually try to stop her- he seemed to fear the girl, even if he didn't dislike her.

After that he'd gone to find Mal and Zoe, where spent some time listening to their stories of the Unification War, and learning more details about Miranda. He shared some more generic and alien-free stories about his own experiences in various other wars, not mentioning that they were _other _wars of course, seeing as the Unification was the only war this system had known in the last century. Obviously they assumed he had been on their side; the Independents, or 'Browncoats'.

Now, he was sitting alone in the mess area, nibbling on one of the protein sticks that called itself food. The packaging identified it as a Blue Sun Corporation product... although the packaging also claimed that it was banana flavoured, which was a complete and utter lie. It was blue, and tasted vaguely of styrofoam and citric acid.

Simon and Kaylee wandered into the room, arm in arm, and Kaylee was giggling about something. Simon sat down opposite the Doctor, setting a bowl of some prepared food or other down. Kaylee sat next to Simon, with nothing to eat for herself... either she didn't trust his cooking, or already ate earlier. "When we get to Sihnon, I'm taking you to a proper restaurant. Real food." Simon promised her, with a grin, which quickly became a grimace as he started eating his own food.

"Do they have real bananas?" the Doctor asked, hopefully. Sure, he had a huge stash of real bananas on the TARDIS, but keeping a low profile involved not sneaking onto his own ship for a snack, just because the food available on Serenity was sub-standard.

"On Ariel, yeah. Not sure about Sihnon." Simon answered.

"Bananas? Again?" Jack asked, as he entered the room, "You know I should be taking offense that you mention those within my hearing?" Obviously he was still sore about the planet he'd got his sonic blaster from being converted into a banana grove.

"Didn't see you there." the Doctor said, shrugging innocently. It was true, although he had been aware of Jack's presence, he certainly hadn't used his sense of sight to know that the Captain had followed the other two humans to the mess area.

Jack shrugged, sitting down next to the Doctor, and glancing at the Blue Sun product that he held. "You know, Blue Sun 'rhubarb-flavour' snack-bars actually taste a bit like banana." he said, by way of a peace-offering on the subject.

"Good to know." the Doctor said, though it didn't stop him eating the one he had started, anyway.

Jack turned to Simon and Kaylee, now, "So, you two a couple?"

"Yeah." Simon answered, while Kaylee nodded.

"You look good together." Jack pointed out, blatantly eyeing up both of them as he said it. It was true that they made a cute couple, but the Doctor could easily guess where Jack was going with this.

"Thanks." Kaylee said, grinning, innocently oblivious.

"Jack..." the Doctor warned.

"Oh come on, Doctor. You don't need to keep me on a leash, you know." Jack taunted, "Not like you have reason to be jealous."

"Excuse me?" Simon asked, confused.

"He's about to ask you if you've ever considered a threesome." the Doctor said bluntly.

"Thanks for ruining my tactful approach to the subject, Doc." Jack sniped.

Simon choked, staring wide-eyed at both of them, before allowing his quite frightened gaze to settle on Jack, "Um... I guess I should be flattered... but... no thanks."

Kaylee giggled, "Sorry Jack. You're cute, and all, but I'm a one-man girl." she said, grinning.

Jack shrugged, "S'ok. Never know 'till you ask." he glanced at the Doctor, "Sometimes I wonder if you really are jealous, when I do that, though?"

The Doctor just smiled, amused at Jack's suspicious suggestion, but then shook his head, standing up and walking out of the room, taking his 'banana-flavour' snack with him.

x x x

_2519-10-28; 1500 - Sihnon_

They had finally reached orbit of Sihnon, now. Inara had been good to her word and acquired the necessary docking authorisation, and Serenity was now preparing to land.

The Doctor was perched on a pile of crates in the cargo bay, high enough up that he could have climbed up onto the catwalk if he'd felt so inclined. Jack was actually leaning over the railing at the edge of the catwalk. Both were watching as Serenity's crew prepared for their little bit of shore leave while the ship was being refuelled.

"Jayne, you're in charge of the refuelling, watching the ship, all the good stuff that someone needs to do and the rest of us already got better things we want to be doing." Mal said brightly.

"But Captain!" Jayne whined.

"No buts." Mal insisted.

"Please, no butts!" Kaylee giggled from the top of the steps that led from the floor up to the catwalk. She was wearing a beautiful dress, her hair was done up neatly instead of just roughly pulled back into a ponytail, and for once had no engine grease on her at all. She walked down those steps looking every bit like Cinderella at the ball, before quickly walking over to Simon, and putting a hand on his arm as if expecting him to escort her somewhere like an old-fashioned and proper couple, smiling brightly up at him, "Inara told me about a lovely place in the city. I thought we could go investigate?"

"Love to." Simon answered, also smiling. Between the two of them- though mostly Kaylee, somehow- their happiness seemed to light up the entire room.

"Ah, young love." Jack muttered, in an ironic tone, unheard by those below.

The Doctor glanced up at him, "When did you get so jaded?"

"I've been in love several times." Jack said with a slight scowl, "Doesn't work well with immortality."

"Tell me about it." the Doctor said in that sarcastic tone that clearly implied he knew exactly what Jack meant and really did not want to be told more about it.

They felt the ship touch down, perfectly smooth, and less than a minute later, River and Zoe appeared from the corridor that led to the cockpit. Zoe went to join the rest of the crew, while River hovered near where Jack stood, "Most beautiful place in all five living stars of this 'verse. They call it 'The Shining World'... 'cause it glows to Londinium like Mars to Earth-that-was." Both men looked at her, a little surprised by her choice of words, but she was staring across the cargo bay, not looking at either of them, "You can see Red Sun from here, this time of year." she added, "You'll love it." and she turned and all but floated down the steps to join the others.

Red Sun was one of the closest other stars to the Core, sharing an orbit around the central star of the system- White Sun (or Bai Hu, White Tiger, to the Sino side of the Alliance)- with the yellow star- Georgia (Huang Long, Yellow Dragon)- beyond the border worlds. Their orbit was virtually synchronous with the other yellow star- Kalidasa (Xuan Wu, Black Tortoise)- and the farthest inhabited star- Blue Sun (Qing Long, Blue Dragon)- almost matching compass points, so that they spread out, encircling the border worlds. The other two stars, farther still and considered uncharted and inviable, had far more erratic orbits, which had impeded the few rare plans to terraform their worlds.

"Does anyone ever understand what she's talking about?" Jack asked.

"Her brother told me they did something to her mind." the Doctor answered, watching as the girl teased Jayne about having to remain on the ship, "She always had psychic potential, but they made her see things no human should, and she can't block it out. I can imagine that would affect her ability to think in a straight line."

Jack raised one eyebrow at the Doctor, and pointed out, "Which you never do, so what did she mean?"

"I'm not sure." the Doctor said, frowning, "Yet."

They watched the rest of the crew for another minute, then Inara opened the smaller door set into the main cargo bay doors, and a stepped out, framed now in a soft golden light as she disappeared outside the ship.

"Well, all who's goin' should go now." Mal declared, following Inara.

Simon and Kaylee quickly followed him, Zoe gave Jayne a warning look, "If anything's missin' or blown up..."

"Never worry." River said brightly, "I'll stay here, keep two eyes on him." she grinned at Jayne, pointing the index and middle fingers of one hand at her own eyes, "Not always these two, either." she added, unnerving the mercenary, who clearly believed she meant it.

"Thank you, River." Zoe said, nodding to show her approval, before she followed the rest of the crew.

"Let's go see what all the fuss is about." Jack said, turning to walk down the steps. The Doctor jumped down off the crates, landing on his feet, right next to where the TARDIS stood, and dusting himself off before leaving the ship as well.

The Doctor froze as soon as he stepped outside the ship, staring in awe at the scene before him. Sihnon's sky was a beautiful dark golden-orange colour, tinting everything it touched. The city they had landed on the edge of was perched on a cliff, overlooking fields and distant mountains, behind which White Sun was just beginning to set to the southwest. To the west, Red Sun shimmered, just visible in the distance, as River had said it would be, and bright enough that it would still give a dimmer light for hours after White Sun had set.

"It's beautiful." Jack whispered, but when the Doctor didn't answer him, he warily put a hand on the Time Lord's shoulder, "You ok?" he asked cautiously.

But almost as soon as he asked, the Doctor's knees buckled and Jack only managed to catch him out of pure instinct. He gently lowered his friend to the ground, but as soon as he tried to let go, the Doctor caught his arm, "Don't leave me." he whispered.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, frowning.

"River was right." the Doctor said, still unable to bring his voice above a whisper, "But..." he trailed off, frowning to show that he was unsure how to say what he was thinking.

"But what?"

The Doctor sighed, "It reminds me of home."

"Oh." there was no way to tell if that should be interpreted as good or bad. It was obvious that he missed Gallifrey, but seeing something so reminiscent of it could either hurt him deeply, or make him happy to imagine that it was real for a while. Possibly both.

As if he had read Jack's mind, the Doctor continued to speak, "I can't pretend it's the same place. I can feel the stars around us, I know that it's not the same. But my eyes say that it is."

"You want to go back to Serenity?" Jack asked, even though they were literally two steps outside the ship as it was.

"No." the Doctor looked up at him with a slightly bemused smile, "Your presence helps."

"How?"

"Because you're wrong." the Doctor said with a weak laugh, "If I let that sense of timelessness wash over me, I can lose my sight of the rest of the universe, and my knowledge that my home is lost forever. I can pretend, as long as you're here."

"I thought it hurt to look at me?" Jack asked with a faint smile.

"Because I can see nothing else." the Doctor answered distantly, "Your impossible existence makes the rest of the universe twist around you when I see it. But now, I don't want to see the reality here."

"I think I understand." Jack said, helping the Doctor to stand again, and not letting go of his arm even after it was clear that he could stand on his own.

"You two girls want to be left alone?" Jayne's voice cut through the moment, but by the time they had turned to face him, he had found himself on the ground, face-down, with River standing behind him.

Very quickly, with a beautiful grace that belied the violence of her actions, she had one booted foot on the back of Jayne's neck, "Rude to listen when you know how not to." then she knelt down, right next to Jayne's ear, and whispered, "'sides, Jack could make _you _want to kiss him if he tried."

"Jien tah du guy." Jayne snapped.

"I really could." Jack said, trying and failing to look innocent. Not that he wanted to try it, but he knew enough about the mercenary from the two weeks they'd travelled together to know his weaknesses. High explosives and big guns... something Jack knew very well how to talk about, and Jack talking about something you love could make you want him very easily.

x x x

It had been several hours since they had landed. Jack and the Doctor were sitting near the edge of the cliff, just outside the city, watching the last faint light of White Sun fading. It would have been romantic, if Jack had been inclined to try anything, but he knew that it would be wrong. Would feel like he was taking advantage, really.

The Doctor, even though he was leaning against Jack, didn't seem to notice him. He was staring into memories long past- relatively speaking, at least, since Jack had no idea when Gallifrey had existed relative to Earth- and idly pulling up and tearing bits of red grass from the bank of the river next to them. The sound of the waterfall was distant, as the cliff was so high, and it was really quite peaceful out here.

This was how Inara found them. She approached, cautiously at first, but finally she spoke softly, "Jack?"

Jack looked up at her, but the Doctor continued to ignore them both, "Hey, Inara."

"Is this a bad time?" she asked.

"I don't think so." Jack said, giving the Doctor a curious look, but when he continued to ignore them, lost in memories. Jack turned back to Inara, "No."

She sat next to Jack, a proper distance from him, respecting his personal space in a deliberate and calculated manner that showed her training to those who knew what to look for. She was just close enough to communicate comfortably, without showing any intent that could be mistaken as forward. Not many people know where that line is.

"I had intended to request your assistance in Guild matters- some of the younger girls could use the practice resisting a smooth talker-" Jack smiled as she said that, but didn't interrupt as she continued, "-but I see you are otherwise occupied." she seemed curious, confused, "Might I ask...?" she gestured to the two of them, wondering exactly what was going on.

"I'm not sure I could answer." Jack said with a distant smile, "Nostalgia. Sihnon reminds him of home, but as to why I'm here, that would be complicated."

Inara smiled, "I grew up here." she said, nodding to the northwest, just below the glow of Red Sun, "A small settlement beyond the mountain."

The Doctor turned his head to look in the direction she had indicated, then to Inara herself, "It's beautiful." he said simply.

"I remember the first time I saw the shores of Ariel." Jack said, deciding he may as well join in, "Felt like coming home."

"You both seem so... different." Inara said, making it sound like a question. "As a Companion, I pride myself on the ability to read other people's faces and body-language." she continued, "You both hide so much. And seem far older than you look."

"We really are." Jack said, frowning as he watched the beginnings of what would amount to a second sunset.

"How old?" she asked.

"Seven hundred and eighty-six." Jack answered honestly.

"Nine-hundred and eleven." the Doctor said, though both Jack and Inara got the feeling he was lying. Like a human who might claim to be twenty-nine rather than accept thirty. Jack guessed the Doctor was really over a thousand years old.

Inara stared at them both in shock. Clearly she had not guessed that. Then she laughed weakly, "I myself and sixty-three. It seems so insignificant, next to your admission."

"You don't even look thirty." Jack told her, smiling.

"You look even farther from the age you claim." she retorted, "I should have guessed forty at the oldest, Jack Harkness."

"And me?" the Doctor asked, suddenly pulling his full attention to the conversation, and sounding genuinely eager for the answer.

"Mid-twenties." Inara said without hesitation, and when he grinned at that answer, she smiled indulgently, "Tell me, how is it possible to live for so long?"

"Promise you won't tell?" Jack asked.

"If I tell your secrets, you might reveal my true age." she pointed out.

Jack laughed, "I'm immortal. How is another one of those things that's difficult to explain, but I did come to this system on the original terraforming arc, Huai Lang."

Inara stared, "Impressive."

"And I'm not human." the Doctor said, smiling at her even more stunned reaction to that. Somehow she had accepted the concept of a human blessed- or cursed- with immortality more easily than the idea of an alien. "My species' life-span is theoretically indefinite... barring accidents."

"Even accidents won't get me, though." Jack pointed out, "I've survived a planet exploding."

"Would that be the failed terraforming incident, on Huai Lang's second founded world?" Inara asked, clearly referencing histories that had been vague at best. They had never even got the chance to designated a name for the world that was now an asteroid belt between the border worlds and the nearest two frontier stars. Jack simply nodded.

"I'm going to have to stop being surprised when I hear words like that." the Doctor muttered.

"What? Huai Lang?" Jack asked, grinning, "It's the reason I joined the colonists in the first place."

The Doctor laughed, "You'd follow her name to hell, wouldn't you?"

"I did." Jack said simply.

The three returned to the ship together, late that night, to many snide suggestions by Jayne, and a few choice words from Mal. Inara had argued with her captain for some time, before he finally conceded that Jayne was a pig and there was no truth to his insinuations about what she might have been doing with their two passengers.

x x x

_Translations:_  
Jien tah du guy: like hell

Huai Lang: I got this one from an online translator, rather than a Firefly site, so I don't know if it's the right dialect for the 'verse, but it does mean Bad Wolf, even if I couldn't get the accents to show in my text editor.

Details on the stars of the are (mostly) taken from the official map of the 'verse, and Wikipedia. I added one detail... two if you want to get into semantics with me, but there's plot bunnies for why.

x x x


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note**: Just in case anyone's still confused, each chapter has the date it's set in at the start specifically because I jump back and forth between flashback and 'present day' every other chapter.

I'm a shameless attention-seeker, and reviews make me update.

x x x

_2509-04-29; 2359 - Cerberus_

x x x

_I give life._

At first all he felt was emptiness. No fear, no pain, no hope. No reason to be. No reason to fight. Absolute nothingness. He was aware of his heart beating, breathing yet again, though couldn't think of any reason why he would want to. In fact, he couldn't really think much at all.

_I give hope._

He had almost forgotten life before this hell. Friends, love, freedom. Really living, not just surviving. Now memories, so vivid they might actually be happening again just for him to watch, flew through his mind. Every battle won, every smile of a friend or family member, all the reasons to live in the 'verse, and it was that spark in his mind which made him sit up, opening his eyes to find out where he really was now.

He was blinded by golden light for an instant, as if the light itself was in his own eyes, then it faded away to reveal the cold and deathly metal walls of the Cerberus.

He knew his reaction to this, logically, should be anger and fear, but he didn't feel it. He slowly looked around the room he had found himself in, to see he was alone. This was a good thing, but he didn't feel happy or relieved at that, either.

He recognised the fact that this was wrong, and tried going through every other emotion he could think of, deliberately focusing on a memory that would inspire it, but none of these emotions- excitement, happiness, love, not even sadness and loss- appeared when he tried to provoke them. He did not like the idea of being emotionless, it made his mind jump to Daleks and Cybermen, even though he knew he was still physically human.

And again, no fear, not even when he thought of the Daleks!

Only one emotion truly remained, right at the front of his mind, and from what he vaguely remembered of his last death- a dream?- he had the Bad Wolf to thank for it. There was still some anger, the deep primal sort- better to use the word 'rage' for it, really, like that movie with the infected monkeys sort of rage- but it was buried deep, and he was only dimly aware of its existence.

His purpose remained the same, escape this ship, but the way he looked at it had changed dramatically. The monsters here no longer frightened him, and even the thought of the things they did failed to disgust him. He knew it was horrific, but couldn't feel anything for it. He knew it would be very difficult for him to manage without instinct and emotion- the easiest way for him to tell between right and wrong- but he could still think, still understood the difference on a purely academic level if nothing else, and he really hoped that would be enough. That was all he had left, anyway. Hope.

He carefully picked himself up, noting that they most likely hadn't mauled him again, because the clothing he had stolen was undamaged, save for being cut and bloodstained where he had been stabbed in the shoulder. He didn't feel any pain, but that was to be expected after a resurrection, he would have healed from any damage they may have done to him.

When he had put his hands on the floor to help him stand, he felt nothing. He knew the metal must be cold, but he didn't feel it. There was a strange smell in the air, but while there was blood- some of it fresh- on the walls, he couldn't smell anything but this strange electric scent he had never been aware of before.

This made him wonder if his other senses were affected as well. Taste, he didn't particularly want to test, and sight seemed unaffected. He could hear, he was sure, the sound of his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. In this silence it was near deafening.

He scanned the room, seeing that it was empty. There was nothing here he could use to his advantage, and his weapons had been taken away. The door was closed- he wouldn't be surprised to find it locked- but there was a ventilation access point in the ceiling if he could reach it. He tried the vent first, but it was too high.

Then the door. It wasn't locked.

Outside, the larger of the two monsters he was becoming more familiar with was waiting for him. All rational logic told him to back away, and he was certain instinct would agree, but instead he met its glower with a steady and calm gaze, and forced a believable smile, "Hello again."

It snarled at him, and grabbed his arm, dragging him down a corridor. He didn't resist. This one and its little friend seemed to be more intelligent than the others, and the last time he had met them they had backed down from attacking him. He guessed it might be the blood thing, but wouldn't bet on it.

He was all but thrown through a doorway, and was unsurprised to find that the shorter creature was there, eating the severed arm of some poor human while it waited. The human in question was still alive, and forced to watch, even! The door closed behind him, with an ominous tone that would normally be very intimidating.

He glanced at the victim, briefly, seeing pain and terror in the man's eyes, but then he turned back to the two creatures, who were now fighting over the severed arm. "I can see you're busy, I'm just going to go jump out an airlock now."

But before Jack could blink the big guy had him pinned to the wall, and snarled in his face.

"I can also tell that you didn't take my suggestion about breath mints seriously." He was actually guessing, here. All he could smell was that strange electric scent in the air, which seemed to be coming from the creatures themselves.

It snarled, leaning closer still, and growled again, more quietly now, trying to be intimidating rather than outright terrifying. Neither worked on him, now.

He met its glower steadily, "Maybe if you spoke an intelligible language, I'd know what you're trying to threaten me about." he suggested, "I speak English, Mandarin, Latin, French, Ancient Egyptian, and Iridian. Not that you'd recognise that last one, I imagine." The big guy snarled in his face once more, but Jack didn't even flinch, "You think I'm afraid of you?" he asked, frowning as he tried to assess the situation without his instincts for a moral compass. It was an easy choice. He was aware of the claws digging into his neck, felt the fact they were sharp and about to draw blood, but it didn't hurt. "Because I think that thing with the blood made me like you. That's why you're trying to communicate with me, isn't it? I feel nothing. You can't hurt me, so do your worst."

It threw him across the room, snarling in rage. He felt the echo of its anger as he hit the floor, literally making him see red. He wanted to hurt it. Cause it pain. Irrational, it wouldn't feel pain, even if he really tried, and he was well versed in the art of torture since his time in the Agency. With effort, he reigned in the rage in his mind, and stared coldly up at the monster that stood over him.

The growling and snarling remained unintelligible, and it seemed unable to form coherent words in any language, though it did appear to understand English. He watched the creature carefully as he said simply, "I just want to leave here." It wasn't all he wanted, he certainly would take any opportunity he could to see this ship and all the monsters on it destroyed, so they couldn't harm any more innocent people.

The shorter one, which had approached them both now, shook its head- more reminiscent of a dog shaking water off it than the typical gesture to imply the word 'no'- and growled at him, then pointed at the human victim.

He raised an eyebrow at the creature, understanding what it was probably implying, and about to tell it exactly where it should shove the carving knife it held, but then he thought of an alternative. It wouldn't make the monsters like him any more than insults, but it certainly was the better option.

"If you insist." he said coldly, picking himself up as both monsters backed down, watching him intently.

The shorter creature produced another knife, and offered it to him. He snatched it away quickly, not wanting to take the risk of it changing its mind. He very quickly strode over to the victim, and knelt next to him.

"No, please, no more." the man begged, his voice hoarse from screaming.

Jack frowned, leaning over to whisper in the man's ear, "There's only one way to escape this hell."

"Please." the man cried, "Please kill me!"

Jack held the man's gaze as he whispered, "I'm sorry." then he slit the victim's throat, quick and deep, no way to survive it. Before the man could even register surprise at this display of mercy, Jack was already standing and turning to attack the shorter creature, this time aiming for its neck, as well.

He was aware of something striking him from behind, but it didn't even hurt. He stumbled and fell, not expecting to die from this. Minor scratch, right?

Wrong. There was a blade protruding from his chest... blood everywhere. His world started spinning, and then there was nothing.

x x x

This went on for an indeterminable length of time. On a few occasions Jack would escape, and on one of those occasions he got into the supply hold. This had been when he made the weapon into his arm, using scraps he found in the engineering deck, a lot of time and effort to manipulate the metal into blades without the right tools, and a medical implant a bit further up his arm to augment the healing in that arm. It meant that, between his own body's resilience and this implant, the injury of drawing the blades would heal almost instantaneously. He wouldn't deny it, he'd taken the idea from Wolverine.

Some weeks- months? Years?- after that, having recently been killed by one of those two intelligent monsters for the seventy-ninth time- yes, he still kept count of the deaths those two caused- he found himself waking up in an unfamiliar room. It was like a bloody warren, he'd spent years trying to find the way off this ship, and he still hadn't been everywhere. This room was new.

Animalistic snarls outside could be heard, and three humans were thrown into the room, the door slammed behind them before Jack could even scramble to his feet, let alone try to tackle the monsters outside. He stared at the humans for a moment, mostly unharmed. Well, relative to other victims he had seen on this ship, at least.

A young woman, couldn't be much older than twenty, a man who looked to be in his fifties, and a child. The boy couldn't be older than eight or nine. All of them were terrified, the woman held the boy protectively, and all three had some visible bruises on their faces.

What could those creatures be up to now? Leave what they think should be another one of them alone in a room with potential prey long enough and hope he turned? They would be sorely disappointed, if that were the case.

"Who are you?" the woman asked, fearfully.

"My name's Jack." he answered, scanning the room, distractedly. This time there was a beaten up old table in one corner, amid a pile of other debris. Maybe they could use that to reach the vents? No working computers though, so if they tried to leave it would be blind. Past experience proved that to be a Very Bad Idea. He turned back to her, now, and asked, "You?"

"Melora. This is my brother, Mike."

"I'm Tavrin." the man added, his voice a hushed whisper as if afraid the monsters would hear him, "I was the leader of our settlement before we were attacked by the Reavers."

"Reavers?" Jack asked, frowning.

"That's what we call... them." he indicated the doorway with a shaking hand.

"Suits them." Jack said bluntly. He recognised the origin of the word, from stories he had read back on Earth.

The two adult prisoners looked at each other with confusion, not understanding why he said that, or possibly wondering why he didn't know the name of this system's local bogeyman. The boy, on the other hand, "Are you a Reaver?" Jack looked at him sharply, expressionless, not sure how to answer, "You dress like them." the boy added quietly, almost a whimper.

Jack turned away from the other humans, and looked up at the air vent now instead, "I'm not sure." He heard the three of them back away, though Melora had to pull the boy back because he didn't seem to want to move. "Did you see how they brought you here?" Jack asked, "From the landing bay to this room?"

He turned to look at them, and saw the two adults shake their heads. But the boy spoke, "Y-yes."

"Show me." Jack said, picking up a bit of broken metal from near the table, and crouching down to scratch the floor with it. It left a white mark on the grey metal surface, "Draw a map." he held out the jagged bit of metal to the boy. Melora held him back, but Jack looked up at her, "If you show me, I might be able to get us out of here." she continued to hesitate, "I can assure you, you do not want to wait around for them to come back." he added in a warning tone.

Reluctantly, she let Mike go, and he ran over to Jack, taking the offered drawing tool, and beginning to draw. It took him a few minutes, pausing to think several times. Eventually, when the map was done, Jack looked at it carefully, glanced up at the door, then to the vent, and back to the map, calculating the angles.

He took the bit of metal from the boy, who backed away as soon as the possible weapon was in Jack's hand again. All three were horrified when Jack began to copy the map onto the back of his own forearm. He only noticed this when he finished and looked up to see the expressions on their faces. "What? I don't have a photographic memory." he pointed out, as if this was a perfectly valid reason for self-mutilation. Really, it wasn't, but he had abandoned a lot of social standards in order to survive here, and his own physical health had really been expendable for a long time before that.

"Didn't that hurt?" Mike asked, watching in shock as Jack carefully wiped the blood off his arm, leaving the shallow cuts as fine red lines that showed the map the child had drawn on the floor. Next time he died, they would go away, just like every other injury he had sustained since his first death.

"It should have." Jack said, shrugging, "But it didn't. They don't feel pain, either." he added.

Jack stood up and began to drag the table over towards the vent. It took a few minutes, even after Tavrin realised what he was doing and helped him. Eventually, they all made it up into the ventilation ducts, Jack had to lift Mike up and pass him to Tavrin, because the child couldn't reach. It took them some time, occasionally backtracking, to find their way to the docking bay, but now that he had a map it actually worked.

They were now at a ventilation hatch looking out onto the docking bay. "Now we wait." Jack whispered.

"How long?" Mike asked, also whispering. The child was curious and excited by the danger. He shouldn't be. Assuming the Reavers weren't directly involved in it, Jack seriously considered allowing the boy to sustain a minor injury, maybe let him drop slightly too far from this vent, just so he would know this was serious, not fun. He immediately rejected the idea as too cruel. Such a thought would never have gotten past his conscience, to the surface of his mind, when his emotions had been intact.

"Until they leave." Jack answered, crouched in front of the vent. Whether from dying too often, or the blood itself, Jack hadn't been able to sleep since he had lost his senses and emotions, so he was able to remain alert, while the other three rested. It felt repetitive, leading people out of this sort of mortal peril. He'd been in this situation before, so many times over the centuries. But he always tried to learn from his mistakes. Patience would pay off in the end, here.

Eventually, after several hours- how did he know? Or was he just guessing?- he nudged Tavrin awake, "Time to go." he whispered. Tavrin woke the other two. Good thing none of them snored. Jack pointed out to the nearest cargo transport, "We're going to steal that." he said, smiling brightly. It was fake, but he knew he should enjoy the idea of stealing a spaceship from their captors.

The boy looked at it, and grinned, "Cool." he whispered.

"Assuming we get away with it, alive, yes. That would be cool." Jack agreed, "But this is not a game."

Mike looked up at him, and nodded solemnly.

Jack pried open the grill on the vent, and swung down, onto a pile of crates, then held his hands up to catch Mike, and then Melora, as they climbed down. Tavrin followed, and they quickly ran across the open floor to the ship. It was easy to get through the door seal, Jack wasn't exactly new to this sort of theft, had been doing it since before he joined the Agency.

Once inside, and relatively safe, Jack sealed the door behind them, "Anyone know how to fly one of these?" he asked, already marching towards the ship's bridge. It was a familiar model, he'd travelled as a passenger on ships of this design, but he'd only ever learned to actually pilot short-range orbital scout ships and atmospheric transports.

"Not me." Melora said, eyes wide with fear.

"Nor me." Tavrin said nervously, "We were just a small farming community on Lilac."

"Can't have been profitable." Jack muttered.

"We managed to feed ourselves." Tavrin admitted, scowling.

"I'm guessing the kid can't fly, then." Jack asked, glancing at Mike, who shook his head. No Anakin Skywalker here, then.

Jack sat down in the pilot seat, "Well, gotta learn sometime." He silently prayed that the access codes hadn't changed, and she was kind enough to ensure her name was still there for him when he typed in the familiar number. The doors opened as he powered the ship up, and they fled.

x x x

The controls hadn't been that different from an orbital scout ship, but it handled like a tank. It was through pure luck that none of them were injured during the landing on Lilac, but the ship was a total wreck. It had been mostly wrecked when they'd stolen it, anyway. Engines overclocked to the point of burning out on re-entry. The hull barely held through the descent, actually tearing open not very long after they hit breathable air. They would never have made it any further than this world, even trying for Haven would have been too far at this time in its orbit. Shame Lilac was such a nasty little pit of a world, not many self-respecting traders ever came through here.

"Any landing you can walk away from..." Tavrin had muttered, before leading him to their former settlement. It was only a few miles on foot. Some of the buildings had been burned down, and there were dead bodies all over the place. Definitely looked like the work of those monsters... the Reavers.

Jack noticed as Melora did her best to keep her brother from looking at the worst of it, and carefully tried to help her with this task by standing in the boy's line of sight for some of the more gruesome sights. It was difficult, as everywhere he looked there was more carnage and death. Without the electric scent of the Reavers themselves to hide it, he could now smell the burned flesh and blood, and knew he should be grateful for the fact that whatever had been in the Reaver blood that affected him had failed to make him any less repelled by that smell.

Jack looked around, carefully calculating his next move. He needed to return to Londinium as soon as possible, but knew he should help these people first. "What year is it?" he asked, as Tavrin guided him into a small but undamaged house, which was thankfully free of the dead.

"Twenty-five eighteen." Tavrin answered, sounding very tired as he sat down on the nearest chair. The interior of this building was completely undamaged, and it still felt somehow safe.

"Eleven years." Jack whispered, surprised. He had guessed seven at the most.

The others all looked at him, stunned, "You spent eleven years on that ship?" Melora asked, shock and horror in her voice.

Jack nodded slowly, looking around the room they were in. "I wonder why this place wasn't attacked." he said distantly. It might have once been a happy home with a family living here, it had that feel to it still, in spite of the fact that it was in the middle of a dead village.

"I don't know." Tavrin said, shrugging, "Nobody was home when they hit. Maybe they overlooked it?"

"Maybe." Jack muttered, "Do you mind if I try to find something civilised to wear?"

"Not at all." Tavrin said, smiling sadly, "I'm sure you'll find something upstairs."

"Whose house was this?" Jack asked, glancing at Tavrin.

"Connor Tyler's." the man answered, "He was about your size, I'm guessing."

"Hmm..." Jack frowned as he headed up the stairs, not allowing the other three to see his surprise. Between the surname and the fact the first name had a meaning that implied the word wolf- or that old Earth movie about immortals, take your pick- he'd be surprised if she hadn't made them spare this house just to give him sanctuary after his time with the Reavers. So much effort for him, but not to protect him from them... he wondered why, but felt no resentment or spite for it. He still didn't feel much of anything right now.

He did find clothes that fitted him, and even looked close enough to his personal style for him to be genuinely comfortable with them. Or he would have been if comfort was still an issue, he was sure. Only real difference was that the coat was black, its collar was in the Sino-style, and its overall cut was a bit tighter than he was used to. Fewer opportunities for concealed weapons, but other than that not a problem.

His greatest inconvenience was the loss of his vortex manipulator. While its teleport and temporal shift had still been broken, it still made an excellent tracker and communicator. But he knew a certain sociopath who would occasionally visit his workplace on Londinium could help him with that problem.

"Do I look more human now?" Jack asked, as he returned to the main room of this house. He ran a hand through his hair and then turned to show off his new clothes. The fact that they had belonged to a dead man wouldn't even have bothered him that much if he was still able to feel. His own clothes belonged to a dead man, often enough, even as his own property.

Melora smiled weakly, and nodded. "Yeah, much better." Mike agreed.

A few seconds later, Tavrin also nodded, "You say it as if you don't believe you are human."

"Anymore." Jack added bluntly, but then shrugged, "I'm never going to turn into one of them, but something did happen to me on that Reaver ship." he glanced at his left arm, where he had drawn the map, before adding with a false smile, "You must have noticed?"

"You did save our lives." Tavrin pointed out, "If there is anything we can do for you?"

"I spent eleven years trying to find a way off that ship." Jack said, glancing at Mike, "You showed me the way. I'm more in your debt than you are in mine."

x x x

After resting for the night, the four of them set out for the nearest inhabited settlement. Nobody likes Lilac, for very good reason. It was a terraforming disaster. Sure, the air could sustain life, but who would want to smell it? The soil was mostly dead and worthless, farming settlements usually ran into debt, and had to be abandoned, within the first season. "Perpetual spring, jien tah du guy." Jack muttered, "I saw the posters advertising this rock, but never set planetfall here before."

"It was never a popular vacation spot, I'll grant you." Tavrin said, as they walked into the town. It distinctly resembled a classic Earth wild-west frontier town, in every way possible, from the buildings to the attire of the locals. Only difference was the occasional bit of technology visible, if you didn't blink at the wrong moment and miss it. "But it's got a lot worse since the Reavers started hitting the outlying villages."

"Why not move?" Jack asked, glancing at him.

"I plan to, now." Tavrin said determinedly, "But before... it was home, you know."

Jack affected an expression that suggested sadness, and nodded, "I know."

It only took Jack two weeks to find a transport vessel heading Corewards, but it only had room for three passengers, and he had insisted on paying for Melora, Mike and Tavrin's passage to Ariel. Stayed behind, himself. Chivalry might just be the final death of him, he considered. He really hoped that it would, martyr was always a good way to go.

He had been there on that infamous day, when Malcolm Reynolds had saved over a dozen civilian lives, while robbing the place at the same time. He had watched the daring escape from a side-street... the Reavers ignored him because he was one of them. Reynolds ignored him because he was a dead man walking. But he'd seen it happen, and killed a fair few of the Reavers there, too... not that he had managed to save even a single life, himself, that day. He had left town before the security had arrived to clean up the mess. No desire to explain how he survived the unsurvivable... again.

As a far more infamous time traveller than himself had once said, he would be back.

x x x

Translations:  
Jien tah du guy: like hell

x x x


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note**: Anyone who wanted to continue reading this story, you have Titan of Saturn to thank for it. Without reviews, I am nothing... like Torchwood's Adam; forget me and I cease to exist. Review me and I'll love you forever (seriously, I prefer insults to nothing at all, go on, call me a whiney little attention whore, it'll still make me happy).

And now I want to apologise for the preceding rant... a combination of caffeine and the fact that I was evilly proud of the last chapter, is all. It's still all true, though.

x x x

_2519-10-25; 1035 - Londinium_

x x x

"Firefly class vessel, please identify yourself." a deceptively sweet female voice demanded, as they received the wave from Londinium security. The face that went with that voice was just as falsely pretty, young and bleach-blond with very sharp features, probably not all that bright by the look in her eyes.

Mal scowled, "Time to prove you are who you say you are, Harkness."

Jack grinned and leaned forward, activating the signal to answer the wave, "Hello, beautiful." he said, in his most charming tone of voice.

The woman's face didn't waver, and she simply repeated herself, "Please identify yourself."

Jack didn't blink at her lack of reaction, as if it wasn't entirely unexpected, "This is the cargo transport vessel, Serenity. We are here on official business in association with the Academy. Security protocol-"

"Serenity-?" the woman asked, stunned, "You will power down immediately, and submit to-"

"Shut up and type this into your little computer." Jack snapped, suddenly losing his temper and almost literally growling at the woman, "Security protocol eight-six-nine. Identity confirmation code, tango alpha romeo, delta india sierra."

The Doctor snorted with badly suppressed laughter when he heard that, but otherwise said nothing. He was surprised by Jack's sudden outburst of temper, and was trying to figure out why the normally cheerful- or at least calm- Captain had been so venomous a moment ago.

The woman scowled at Jack's attitude, but typed the relevant information into her system. The three men in Serenity's cockpit watched with bemusement- and in Mal's case some surprise- as her eyes widened at what she read there, "Security clearance, level one override." she said, awed, "I'll clear you for landing immediately, Captain."

Jack grinned- again forced, though the Doctor seemed to be the only one observant enough to notice the discrepancy- leaning back against the wall, as the wave was terminated, "Told you so." he gloated.

"Why did you just shout at her?" the Doctor asked calmly. Shout wasn't the right word, but it was the polite way to refer to the snarling he had heard.

"Echoes." River said before Jack could come up with an answer, "Multiplication and addition, proximity feedback. Put a microphone next to the speaker. Never silent but in the screams."

"Here we go again." Mal muttered, "I can't make any kind of sense out of her when she talks like this."

"Well she obviously means we're close to something that's affecting Jack's self-control." the Doctor suggested. River nodded once, not looking away from the landing procedures she was working on.

Jack scowled, "It's been a problem for a while, now." he said defensively, "But I don't want to discuss it."

"No idea what she means about multiplication and addition, though." the Doctor pointed out.

"Thing with seein', always clear after the fact." River said, pausing as the ship touched down light as a feather. She flicked several switches to power down engines and stood up to face the Doctor, looking right at him, "Even I don't make sense of it all in my head. Too much to think straight. Always turning."

The Doctor frowned, "I could help." he offered, slowly raising his right hand so that it hovered next to the side of her face, "May I?"

But with a fierce shriek that sounded like a war-cry, River grabbed his wrist and twisted it, throwing him into the door-frame violently. His head connected quite hard with solid metal, and he slid down to the floor, cringing at the pain.

"I'll take that as a 'no', then?" he asked, pulling himself to his feet and rubbing the back of his head gingerly.

When the Doctor noticed Mal's bemused smirk at her violent outburst, the human put in happily, "Shoulda seen what she did to Jayne, one time. Think he was only breathing as her reason, an' all."

But River was muttering under her breath, now, not listening to them, "Red and gold, crying for a memory." her voice got louder as she spoke, rising to a scream, "All the 'verse in my head and it burns, don't touch! Don't you touch!" as she finished this rant, she was now hiding behind Mal, pointing at the Doctor accusingly, glaring. "She trusted you." she added in a whisper.

The Doctor stared at her for several seconds, before looking away. "If you saw that, you know why I did it." he said, frowning at the floor.

"What were you going to do to her?" Mal asked, his tone suddenly turning dangerous, threatening.

"I just wanted to help." the Doctor said, still not meeting anyone's eyes right now, "Try to make some sense of what she was seeing."

River slowly calmed down, "He's right." she said softly, putting a hand on Mal's arm to stop him from continuing his overprotective threats, "Not his fault. Not right to do, but he meant well." The Doctor looked at her, curiously now, and she smiled, "Just..." she pointed at him warningly, once more, then tapped the side of her own head. "Don't touch."

x x x

Londinium was a very Earth-like world, with a clear blue sky and shiny silver buildings as far as the eye could see. Whether this was simply a large metropolis, or an entire planet-city, the Doctor couldn't tell from this view alone.

"Hey, Captain!" a voice called, as soon as they stepped off Serenity. The man who had shouted now ran over to them, all but pouncing on Jack to hug him.

Jack laughed, and pushed him away, "How joh bu jian, Derrin."

"We thought you were dead." Derrin pointed out.

"Hmm, you wouldn't believe the number of times I've heard that." Jack said, smiling, though the Doctor could still tell it was forced, "What're you doing here?"

"Heard your wave to planetary security." Derrin answered, shrugging, "You know you haven't aged a day."

"Again, you wouldn't believe how many times." Jack said, "What have I missed?"

"Industrial espionage, political sabotage. Fun stuff." Derrin offered, but then he froze, staring over Jack's shoulder, "You've got some nerve, Captain." he said weakly.

Jack glanced behind him to see River and Simon Tam. Simon seemed just as shocked as Derrin, "You!" Simon declared, pointing.

Derrin grinned, "I hear you did something good with the mess they made?"

"Am I to assume you had a part in helping River escape, then?" Jack asked.

Derrin looked incredibly pleased with himself, as he asked, "Who else could have broken anyone in or out of a government facility like that, hmm?"

"Without fatalities, I'd guess only you." Jack said, half-laughing and shaking his head at the same time, "John might have got the job done, too, though."

"That psychopath knows rutting well that he ain't welcome when you're offworld." Derrin pointed out, "Don't know what you see in him, Captain."

Jack grinned, but his eyes showed something much darker, "Right now, if I don't see him for another lifetime or three, it'll be too soon."

"Good, 'cause he's nowhere to be found." Derrin said, "Is this who I think it is, then?" he asked, indicating Mal.

"Yeah." Jack nodded, but Mal interrupted now that he'd been dragged into the conversation.

"Either you two mind fillin' me in on what's goin' on here?"

"This is my second in command." Jack said, indicating Derrin.

"Seems a lot more friendly-like than any Alliance types I've seen." Mal pointed out.

"We're not really Alliance." Derrin said with a bright grin, "More like a family business."

"Put Earth-that-was Mafia to shame." Jack added brightly.

"No kidding." Derrin said, nodding.

"Hate to break up the little reunion, but we have business with the Academy." the Doctor noted.

"What is it, I might be able to help?" Derrin offered.

"You remember when I disappeared, I said I was tracking something?" Jack asked.

"Mmhm."

"Alliance found it first."

"Ah."

"They probably got it back here about six months after I left." Jack said, making it almost sound like a question.

"Yeah, right at the end of the war. Something got sneaked in." Derrin nodded, "Top security, even I'm not cleared for it, only your codes would get past that lot."

"They locked you out?" Jack asked, frowning, "Must be big. How's the rest of the team?"

"All good." Derrin said with a nod, and Jack seemed incredibly relieved by that information, "Got a new girl in on accounts, cute, blonde, threatened the mi tian gohn out of John."

"She did?" Jack asked, surprised.

"Offered to shoot him. When he still came on to her, she told him a lot of graphically violent stuff would make most folk run screamin'." Derrin explained, "Put him right off hangin' around, so we all love her."

Jack forced a laugh, but then changed the subject, "Alright, go back there and keep tabs on the Academy. I want you monitoring security, so if someone tries something stupid I have backup." Jack ordered.

Derrin grinned, "Yes sir." and he gave a mock-salute, before turning and leaving.

"You have strange friends." the Doctor pointed out.

"You're one to talk." Jack retorted.

x x x

Jack led their small group, consisting of himself, the Doctor, Mal, Simon and River, to the Academy. It really didn't look any different from the rest of the city, blended in nicely, and didn't look like an evil institution should. Then again, neither did Canary Wharf, when Torchwood were in residence there.

The man who greeted them was apparently the scientist here. Relatively young for the position, but that's all relative, he was forty-eight, according to his files. And if Jack remembered correctly, his name was, "Mr Cole?"

The man nodded, opening his mouth to answer, but River giggled, "She's safe."

Everyone looked at her, "Ta ma duh!" Simon complained, "Draw all the attention, why don't you?"

"Cap'n'll look out for me." River said simply to that.

"What do you mean, River?" Jack asked, "'She's safe'?"

"Spatial genetic multiplicity." River answered simply, as if that explained it.

Jack thought about it for a second, then realised what she meant. "I think I get that one." he said, showing surprise as he said it.

It seemed so obvious when all the pieces were there and her words just pulled them together, instead of just being predictions that made no sense until they were already happening. He'd said Lucy looked like someone he knew, and River reacted, quoted that little bit of technobabble, and had even been looking right at Jack when she'd heard the name Cole. Had to be. Right? Hell, for all he knew Derrin could just have been talking about her. Offered to shoot John, knew graphically violent things that'd put _him _off. It was quite likely.

"Congratulations, Captain." the Doctor said brightly, honestly smiling and not a hint of sarcasm there. And clearly he'd figured out the little detail that no one in this system's government was authorised to know Jack's name, "You're learning to think sideways, now could you share with the rest of us?"

"No." Jack said, smiling, "That would take too long, and the message was just for me, anyway."

"No one I know, then?" the Doctor insisted.

"I sincerely doubt you've met her." Jack said, before turning his attention back to the scientist, "Get used to this, it's perfectly normal for us." he pointed out, when he saw the scowl the man wore.

"Yes sir." Mr Cole said, nodding, "May I ask what brings you to our facilities, Captain? Have you come to return Miss Tam to us?"

"Oh no." Jack said, shaking his head, "She's here with me, and will be leaving with me as well." there was a warning in his voice now, 'try anything and you _will _regret it'.

The scientist's scowl deepened, "I don't suppose I could convince you otherwise? She is dangerous, we could contain her-"

"I'm dangerous, too." Jack growled, "In fact, everyone in this room, with the possible exception of you, could be called dangerous in one way or another. The fact that I'm negotiating in a civilised manner suggests I don't want to demonstrate just how dangerous I can be. Don't push me, Mr Cole. River is not yours."

"She's her own." River added, smiling serenely.

Mr Cole scowled, "Then what is your purpose here, today, Captain?"

"Twelve years ago." Jack said, in a tone of voice one would usually reserve for retarded children, "You took something from Miranda. I'm guessing very shortly after the Pax incident. I was tracking it, and it should be in my agency's possession, not yours."

Mr Cole thought about this for a few moments, then looked up at him, "Our primary subject? I'm afraid we can't part with that."

"Remember who you're talking to." Jack asked coldly, "You want to see what Torchwood can do to your Academy?"

"N-no, not- not really." Mr Cole stammered. It seemed the word Torchwood inspired genuine fear in the man. Good, he might use it more often, then.

"Allow me to see this 'subject' then." Jack suggested, "There's a slight chance that if it's not what I think it is, I might let you keep it."

Mr Cole scowled, "I shall be lodging a complaint with the Parliament about this, Captain."

"Like to see them try to do anything about me, they're still too busy cleaning up after Miranda got out." Jack said blithely, "Lead the way." he added, with an overly dramatic wave of his arm and a bright but blatantly false smile.

Mr Cole, muttering under his breath words that Jack didn't hear- but assumed were all curses, and had absolutely no doubt included the ever-popular phrase 'bloody Torchwood'- turned and led the way further into the building.

He led them all the way down to a sub-basement level. It's always a sub-basement level. Can't secret covert organisations have any imagination? The walls were sterile white, and the entire place reeked of disinfectant to the point where he could taste it. There were other doors off to the sides, occasionally a scream could be heard from behind these as they walked passed.

"What's that?" Mal demanded.

Mr Cole paused, looking at the room number before answering, "One of our students." he glanced at River briefly, but couldn't look at her intense stare and quickly turned to walk on.

"If you keep bending him, he'll break." River said, "If you must have a weapon, he's as sharp as you can make him."

Mr Cole froze, startled, not turning to look at River. Was that guilt?

Jack glanced at River, to see she was perfectly serious. "Do as she says." he ordered, "It's bad enough, what you've done so far."

Mr Cole scowled, and pressed a button outside the door, speaking into what must be a commlink into the room, "End session for today." he ordered.

"Anything else to suggest, River?" Simon asked. She shook her head, and didn't say any more.

Jack made an impatient gesture for Mr Cole to keep moving, now that he had done as River had said. They continued down the corridor. A couple of times, Jack flinched as they passed a door, and the second time, River touched his arm, "Calm." she whispered, "They can't get out to you."

"It's not that." he said, not at all surprised that she knew, "What you said before, proximity feedback."

Mr Cole glanced at Jack, clearly confused, "I have no idea what you are talking about, Captain."

"Best keep it that way." Jack said coldly.

Finally, they came to the last door in the corridor, right at the end. Mr Cole typed in an access code that was twenty digits long, though Jack didn't have a good angle to read the numbers as he typed them. The Doctor, on the other hand, could be seen mouthing numbers as he watched. With his memory, odds were he'd never forget that number. Now, try to get him to remember some of the basic rules of temporal astro-navigation, no chance.

The heavy metal door slid open, and Mr Cole entered the room. Jack and the Doctor followed him closely, but the Doctor immediately dropped to his knees, clutching his head in pain. Jack was aware of something stabbing at his mind, but it didn't exactly hurt. He didn't even bat an eye, didn't show any sign of his discomfort as he turned to glare at Mr Cole, "What is that?" he demanded.

"Psychic disruption field." Mr Cole said, "To protect us from uncooperative subjects. I'm guessing from his reaction that your friend is a reader?" he glanced at River as he added, "We learn from our mistakes."

River smiled, stepping into the room. She waved her hand at the air in front of her face, as if trying to touch something only she could see. "It's pretty. Sparkles." she smiled right at Mr Cole, "Can still see your thoughts."

Mr Cole's eyes widened in shock, "You can't-"

"Too fine-tuned." River said, staring vaguely at the sparkles she imagined she saw, "Not a match. Close, distracting, not hurting. Need to burn through eternity to feel."

Jack knelt next to the Doctor, taking his arm and gently pulling his hands away from his head, "Doctor?"

"I- I'll be ok. Give me a minute." he answered. Jack finally looked up, taking in the rest of the room, and seeing a plastic cage in the centre, reminiscent of something he'd once seen in one of the Hannibal Lector movies. Sitting on a chair in the centre of this cage was what looked like a teenage boy. Didn't look any older than River.

The teenager was thin and pale, with shoulder-length black hair and dark eyes. He watched them intently, as if he was trying to read them in spite of whatever energy field was in the room.

"He doesn't speak." Mr Cole informed Jack, "Just watches. We've done scans, and- I know this sounds extraordinary, but- we don't think he's human."

"Are you seriously suggesting he's... an alien?" Simon asked, clearly not believing it.

"It is the most likely explanation." Mr Cole said, nodding.

"Jing chai." Simon whispered, his eyes lighting up at the idea.

Jack, on the other hand, was scowling. Oh, he found Simon to be more and more worthy of amusement by the second, but the idea of imprisoning and experimenting on other sentient beings was highly offensive to him, and he didn't think it appropriate to make a joke at Simon's choice of words right now.

He was still kneeling next to the Doctor, waiting until his friend was ready to try to stand so that he could help, "Well considering you're willing to experiment on humans, it doesn't surprise me that you're just as uncaring to other species." he growled, not looking at Mr Cole, but watching the teenager instead.

The teenager tilted his head to one side, at Jack's words, as if curious, but remained silent.

"What?" Jack asked, directly to the alien, "Didn't expect compassion, or didn't expect me to believe in aliens?"

The only answer he got was a half-amused and very slight twitch of one side of the mouth, and an equally distant spark of humour in the alien's eyes. Jack guessed this meant 'both'.

"Can you speak?" Jack asked. A nod was his answer. "Why don't you." the teenager's eyes drifted to Mr Cole for a moment, then back to Jack, most likely suggesting that he chose not to speak in the presence of the people who held him prisoner.

He was about to ask further questions, but then the Doctor stirred, putting some weight on Jack's arm, a silent request for help. Jack stood, pulling the Doctor to his feet as he did so. The Doctor leaned on Jack for a couple of seconds, "Need to figure out how they generate this sort of interference." he said quietly, before stepping away from Jack, standing on his own, and finally looking around the room.

When he saw the teenager, he froze in shock. He recognised the alien child, "Impossible." he whispered, stumbling back into a wall as whatever defence he had built against the psychic disruption field failed.

Jack was there in an instant to catch him. "What is it?" he asked, "Do you know him?"

But the Doctor was too busy fighting off the energy in the room to do anything but nod as he grimaced in pain.

x x x

Translations:  
How joh bu jian: long time no see  
Mi tian gohn: excrement  
Ta ma duh: Damnit  
Jing chai: Brilliant

x x x


	9. Chapter 9

x x x

_2507-08-10; 1330 - Miranda_

x x x

He knew he shouldn't be here. He'd get in a lot of trouble when he got home, but he didn't particularly care. He was underage for punishment for the laws he knew perfectly well he was breaking. Skipping school was bad enough, a minor offense, detention at worst. Leaving the planet was where his behaviour became illegal. No one as young as he was should be wandering off to other star systems, especially unaccompanied by any of the elders.

But he was curious. His friend had set precedent, been the first to leave the planet so young, and got away with it too. He was determined to do the same. He chose this star-system mostly because no one would come looking for him here, it was safe from external influence because of an energy distortion around it. He could take his time exploring.

The important point here, and one that no other being on this world would ever even consider, was that he was not human. He looked it, but a lot of species, his own and humanity included, followed a similar evolutionary path and ended up looking very much alike. He could pass for human, and because no one else came to this system they didn't even believe in aliens. He was only sixteen, and at this stage in his growth he looked it to both species. Though humans would probably continue to mistake him for a teenager for many years to come.

Right now, he was wandering around, looking for something interesting to do. The people ignored him, easily overlooking a teenager who walked with something that looked like purpose. They might have looked twice if he had loitered or skulked, but he knew better than to do that. His own species had taught him- unintentionally, of course, simply by catching him out- that if he was up to something, the worst thing he could do was to look suspicious, and lurking looked suspicious.

There was very little on this world that claimed to be entertainment. There were offices, businesses, restaurants and malls, and while some could consider dining with friends or shopping to be fun, they were still essential things, and hardly the type of activities that would claim to be fun for its own sake. He had heard of many interesting activities- movies, games, dancing, to name a few- that humans indulged in, but found none of them here.

So, a bit sullen at his failure to find anything calling itself entertainment, he wandered in the direction of something he would consider fun, himself. There was, at the centre of this city, a big scientific research centre. If he could just find a way into it, he could have a lot of fun exploring the sort of primitive toys that these humans called advanced science.

Unfortunately, "Sorry, kid. No unauthorised personnel allowed." the particularly tall security guard informed him.

Resisting the urge to show his annoyance by sulking or even throwing a temper-tantrum- both were appealing, but neither would be productive- he gave the guard his most convincing smile, and said, "My uncle works there, and he said I could come round and see-"

"Nice try, kid." the guard said, "But this place is top security. And I'm not stupid."

_Could have fooled me._

The teenager scowled, but then shrugged and wandered off. Other ways in, but he really was not in the mood for breaking the local laws. Too risky, he needed to be able to return home on his own, and he did not like the idea of being captured by a primitive species like this. Who knows what they'd do if they discovered aliens were real?

He had just turned the corner at the end of the street when he felt something was wrong. The hairs on the back of his neck raising like a canine's hackles, the subconscious illusion that the temperature had dropped slightly... traditional physical reactions to a primal danger-sense. But his other senses- what humans might call extra-sensory perception- told him something else entirely, almost calming, as if hundreds of voices were whispering for him to sleep.

The direct contradiction made him very uneasy, and he turned around, scanning the street, looking for the source of this feeling.

The air smelled different, now, as well. The instant he noticed that, he stopped breathing, not wanting to take the risk of it being some kind of poison. He could safely hold his breath for up to an hour, though it required concentration to do so.

The rest of the street seemed normal, although everyone else had stopped walking as well. Some of them leaned against the nearest wall, or sat down on benches, but none of them appeared to be in any pain.

He thought back to the unusual smell in the air, and tried to figure out what it was. Chemistry was not his strong point, and while he prided himself on getting top grades, he really had to work on that subject, unlike most of the others. Still, he had probably learned more advanced things in his first eight years of education than most humans might in their lifetime.

But whatever was in the air now- and he was certain it was something that shouldn't be there- was unrecognisable. A compound he had never heard of before, he had no idea what it was. Although judging by the empty echoes he now felt from the people around him, and their behaviour, he'd guess it was meant to calm them. Except that normally, when people are calm, they still think... something, anything... but this was a deafening sort of silence.

He turned back and started walking towards the research centre again. Maybe they would know what was going on.

x x x

The teenager approached the building cautiously. When strange things start happening, always be wary. His friend had said once, the excrement always hits the air-circulation device the instant you let your guard down. So he wasn't as surprised as he probably should have been when someone attacked him. It was the security guard he had spoken to earlier.

The human came barrelling out of a side-street and knocked the teenager to the ground violently. His head struck the ground so hard that it made him dizzy for two and a half seconds. Only then did he realise that he had cried out, started breathing again, and that the human was now holding his arms tight enough that it hurt, and securely enough to restrain him completely.

The human had been snarling, rabid. He had genuinely expected it to try to bite him. But as he gasped for breath, the human froze, seemed to sniff at him like an animal trying to determine if it was dealing with a friend or foe, then backed off, standing slowly. Teeth still bared, the human growled at him as he picked himself up to his feet, still rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head.

"What was that for?" he demanded, but only received a growl as an answer. He frowned, "Alright, don't talk to me, then."

He stepped closer to the human, cautiously, and when it didn't attack again, he reached up to touch the side of its face. He was far too young to learn the finer points of telepathy, but he knew the basics. Unfortunately, this human's mind was seriously messed up, and all he could sense from it was a feeling of being lost, emptiness, and an overpowering sense of anger at that feeling.

He nearly pulled away at that sense, but forced himself not to. Instead, he bit his lip and pushed further into the warped and disfigured mind, finally finding a trace of coherent thought. That same emptiness and sense of loss permeated all thought, but it was still sentient, still human, unlike the rest of this mind.

He had never done such a thing before, knowing it to be completely wrong on so many levels, but in this situation he felt it necessary. He dragged that shred of coherent thought, kicking and screaming, to the front of the human's mind, forced it to think instead of simply acting on animal instinct.

"Help me." the man whispered, sounding almost afraid... but still somehow not. That emptiness in his mind showed that he didn't understand fear in this state.

The teenager immediately broke the link to the human's mind, not wanting to see that void there, and he took one step back now. "Do you know what happened?" he asked, still wary of this human.

"I've no idea."

"Anything unusual at all, anything that might have caused this?" he persisted.

The humans shook his head and suggested in a tone that showed he was certain this information was useless, "There was some big project in the research centre, due to finish today."

The teenager nodded, accepting that this could be as good a place to start as any, "I'll need to be allowed in, now." he noted with a faint smile that he didn't quite feel. Somehow, though he knew that should be funny, he couldn't bring himself to feel any genuine amusement.

The human nodded, "What- what did you do to me?"

"I allowed you to think again. Whatever is... in the air, right now... it affected your mind." he frowned, "I'm not sure what, exactly, it's done. I need access to the research that created it."

"But you're just a kid."

"A particularly intelligent 'kid' who just saved your mind from shattering." the teenager said, smirking faintly, though more from habit than any real emotion behind it, "I know more than you could imagine."

The human didn't question it, just nodded, "My name's Marcus, by the way."

The teenager hesitated at that, still surprised by the human tendency to willingly share their true names, even though he had heard of it and witnessed it several times already on this world. He quickly ran through a mental list of possible human names, both common and more obscure, and came to a conclusion, "Call me Tao." It was a Chinese name, meaning peace and long life, he chose that language specifically because of the bi-lingual cross-cultural nature of the world he had found himself on. A very calculated and deliberate decision, made in less than a second.

The human- Marcus- nodded, gesturing towards the entrance to the research centre, "After you."

x x x

The corridors within the building were long and winding, every door identical, as if purposefully designed to confuse those who didn't know exactly where they were going here. Luckily, Marcus knew where he was going, and within ten minutes they found themselves in a sub-basement level. The sterile white laboratory was filled with what- to the humans- must have been state-of-the-art scientific equipment.

The teenager wandered around the room, examining each device for only a few seconds, categorising them in his mind by their intended purpose and by what they could be broken down to do against their original design. He couldn't ask for a better science lab, given his current skill level. Sure, it was primitive by his species' standards, but he was still young and inexperienced.

"Would be nice if one of the scientists survived..." he muttered, looking around warily.

As if answering his request, another human appeared, growling just like Marcus had, but this time he didn't attack at all. This man was short, the same height as the teenager himself, and wearing a white coat that generally implied in a surprisingly large number of cultures that he was a scientist of some sort, "I think he's one." Marcus pointed out the obvious.

The teenager warily approached the other human, and when it didn't attack, he touched the side of its face and once more dived into a shattered mind in search of that faint and tattered shred of coherent thought. Knowing what he was looking for this time, he pulled this human's thoughts to the front of its mind very quickly, and then stepped back, watching warily.

The second human shook his head, "What happened?" he asked, shocked.

"You're the scientist, you tell me." the teenager retorted.

"We- we just released the finalized G-23 chemical, then..." he shook his head, "Everything just stopped."

The teenager scowled, "You two are the only people I've seen standing, since the chemical was released in the air, and you were both enraged."

Marcus waved nervously at the other human, "Hi. I'm Marcus. Security guard."

"Eddie." the other human answered, nodding, "I was assigned to the Pax project."

"And the kid here said he's called Tao." Marcus added.

"I think I can help." the teenager offered, "If you'll tell me everything about this 'Pax project'."

"How can a child help?" Eddie asked.

"I'm very smart." he answered, "Top of my class."

"Uh huh." Eddie said, unconvinced.

"The chemical's primary function is clearly intended as a calming drug of some sort." he said, and Eddie nodded, surprised, "The effects I've observed indicate that it affected the emotional centres of the brain." he frowned, focusing both on his own body's reaction to the chemical, and what he had seen in the humans' minds, "Fear seemed to have been completely blocked out, but so were several other emotions."

"Nothing seems funny, anymore." Marcus pointed out, "The idea of a kid knowing more than a proper scientist really should be funny, I know it should."

"Thanks." the teenager said, forcing a smile, "Wish you were wrong, though."

"We need further analysis." Eddie suggested.

"Yes, that's why we came down here." the teenager agreed, looking around, at the other scientists in the room, all sitting at their desks with their arms folded and their heads rested on their arms as if they were just taking a nap, "We have two good subjects for the aggressive reaction, and five for the sedative. We need to figure out a way to reverse both reactions before the others die."

"Three days." Eddie said, nodding, obviously reluctant to accept a child's help, but he also seemed to recognise the child's intelligence in spite of his species' prejudice against the useful potential of the young, "Let's get to work."

x x x

It had been two days, now, and the two humans had been showing signs of exhaustion. The teenager ignored these, for the most part, only acknowledging it by suggesting one or the other of them take a break from the work- Marcus got more opportunity to rest than Eddie, not being so knowledgeable of what they were working on.

But the effort he had made to prevent them from losing their minds was not a permanent solution, and he guessed if they didn't finish this cure soon they would degenerate back to what the Paxilon Hydrochlorate had done to them. He didn't tell them this, he didn't want them to worry, and hoped that they would complete their work before it became an issue. He wasn't sure he could repeat the process without breaking their minds, and really didn't want to have to find out.

They had already concluded that the dose had been too high even if it had worked as intended. Not that it did work as intended, anyway, so that point was irrelevant. It was meant to lower levels of a chemical in the brain that triggered anger and violence. It didn't even touch that part of the mind.

Physical pain was completely blocked from the human mind, they had discovered that when they had taken the first couple of blood samples from the two humans. Fear as well, as he had pointed out before. Marcus, rather than either of the geniuses, was the one who had figured out that pleasure was also blocked from the mind. Not that he really wanted to think about the obvious way that Marcus must have discovered this fact.

The difference in reaction between the larger portion of the population, and the smaller number which included Marcus and Eddie, seemed to be the very chemical that the Pax was supposed to inhibit. Higher levels of that chemical caused the aggressive reaction, while those with lower levels simply laid down and accepted oblivion.

They were still alive, for now, but if they weren't cured they would die within twenty-four hours. The aggressive ones- several of which the teenager had asked Marcus to observe, to try to study their behaviour- understood self-preservation, but did not seem to fear death. In fact, aside from not allowing themselves to starve, they all but sought death out.

The worst part was that during these two days, he had started to recognise signs of his own body's reaction to the Pax. Fear seemed to fade into insignificance, though not disappear completely. What fear was left, he consciously directed to the fates of the humans on this world, allowing him to focus on his work more diligently.

He also noticed his temper shorten, but next to the two humans who were losing control of their temper far faster than he was, it wasn't that bad. He was also acutely aware of positive emotions being harder to perceive. Humour, compassion, hope... and he certainly didn't trust these two humans, even if he hadn't consciously known of the deteriorating state of their minds he knew he would feel an irrational lack of trust.

It came to the point, six hours ago, where he had shouted at them to both get out, he could do this better on his own and didn't need a 'pair of mentally challenged monkeys' getting in his way.

That may have been a mistake, but he didn't regret it. They were annoying, anyway.

He was close to completing a cure he was certain would work. Another hour to complete testing, to ensure he wouldn't just make things worse- was that even possible, anyway?- and it would be ready.

Unfortunately, just as he was beginning to think that he had succeeded in doing something good, and trying to force himself to feel proud of it in spite of the Pax's effect on him, he heard many fast and heavy footsteps in the corridor. By the time he turned around to see what it was, half a dozen heavily armored men wearing gas-masks were pointing guns at him.

Warily, he raised his hands to show he was unarmed, and spoke nervously, "Uh, hi."

"Identify yourself!" one of the armed men demanded.

"I was just trying to help-"

"Name!" the man snapped.

"Well if you're going to be rude-"

But once more he was interrupted, as the man spoke into a radio, "We've found someone who'll talk, but he's not cooperating."

The radio crackled back, "Bring him in."

The teenager raised his eyebrows in surprise and false innocence, and wished he found it funny when he asked weakly, "Is this the point where I'm supposed to say 'take me to your leader'?"

"Don't try being funny with us!" the soldier ordered him.

"Do I look like I'm laughing?" the teenager asked coldly, biting back the anger that rose in him at this human's continued presence. Something in his mind, likely triggered by the Pax, wanted to rip this man to pieces. Not kill, maim. He pointedly ignored the thought, and allowed the group of humans to escort him out of the building.

They led him to a space ship, which had landed in the middle of the street, not far from the research centre. Standing just outside the ship, also wearing a gas mask, was an older man. He had grey hair cropped in a military style, and a stern air about him, even though his face was for the most part concealed.

"Who are you?" the man demanded.

While he had willingly given Marcus an alias, because the human had volunteered his name first, the teenager took offence at a complete stranger demanding to know his name, even if he would only give a false name at the best of times, anyway. "You first." he said coldly.

"I am an Alliance Operative, that's all you need to know." the man said calmly.

"Well if you're not sharing your name, why should I tell you mine?" the teenager asked, knowing damned well this man probably would not appreciate the impudence.

"Because if you don't cooperate, my men will consider you a hostile element and you will be executed." the Operative said calmly.

The teenager quickly scanned the men surrounding him, and decided that it would be a very bad idea to test their accuracy with those weapons at this range, "Alright, then. You can call me Tao." he said coldly.

"And how is it that you are unaffected by the epidemic here?" the Operative asked.

"It's not an epidemic. It's an airborne chemical compound, not a disease. The science lab you found me in did it."

"And what was your part in this disaster?"

"I was trying to help them make a cure before it was too late." he glanced down at one of the civilians sleeping on the ground, "Less than twelve hours left, now, but if you'll just let me go back there, I was almost finished-"

"You really expect me to believe that a child could undo this sort of global catastrophe?!" the Operative demanded.

"I'm very clever." he answered coldly.

"You will come with us." the Operative said, indicating the ship behind him.

"What about these people? I swear, the cure will work!"

"Miranda is lost." the Operative said calmly.

"No, it's not!" two of the soldiers grabbed his arms just in time to stop him from stepping forward to shout in the Operative's face. They might have assumed he would attack, and the thought had crossed his mind, but he wasn't stupid enough to do so with so many heavily armed and physically stronger enemies around him. "Just listen to me, I can fix this! Let me help, please!"

"I will imagine for a moment that you're telling the truth." the Operative said coldly, clearly not believing this for a moment, "All these people wake up, and realise that something terrible happened here. Then before it can be contained, rumour reaches the Core Worlds of this. Mass panic, the Alliance will lose face, and the war in the Borders could go on for even longer."

"Block outgoing communications, call it a quarantine, just let me help them!"

The Operative shook his head, "No. Miranda is lost." he beckoned for the guards restraining the teenager to bring him, and led the way onto the ship.

"You idiot!" he shouted, struggling against the soldiers who dragged him onto the ship, "You're willing to let millions of people die, just to save face?! Bloody stupid egotistical sociopathic son of a retarded feh feh pi goh!" he would blame Marcus for introducing him to bi-lingual swearing, but that was irrelevant right now.

The Operative turned on the spot and backhanded him across the face, "If you do not remain silent and cooperate, I will have you locked in a cargo crate for the journey back to Londinium!"

He glared up at the Operative, many alternative reactions playing out in his mind, including attempting to murder this human where he stood. Rip his throat out, or his heart. Steal one of the boot-knives from a guard and cut him to shreds while he was still alive. Remove the gas mask, see what reaction he had to the Pax, would easily guess at violent.

But just as quickly as those thoughts came to his mind, he rejected them as irrational, and quite probably caused by the Pax itself. Oh, but it would be so good to gouge out the Operative's eyeballs and watch him cry blood.

He averted his eyes from the infuriating human, and instead scowled at the ground. In spite of those dark thoughts, he knew he had no chance of overpowering these guards, so he nodded. Remain silent, that was the order, so no saying 'yes, ok, I'll behave' either.

The Operative watched him for several seconds as he remained still, not resisting the guards or talking back anymore, then seemed satisfied that he would behave and once more beckoned for the soldiers to bring him onto the ship. With great displeasure, the teenager complied with them, this time, walking instead of forcing them to drag him.

"Sir, may I ask?" one soldier- the one holding his left arm- asked warily. The Operative nodded to him, "Why are we taking him to Londinium?"

"We need to find out how he resisted the Pax. We can use this information to avoid the same problem next time." the Operative answered calmly.

The teenager looked up at him sharply. _Next time? One global screw-up wasn't enough for you?!_

The Operative laughed at his expression, "You are one self-righteous little huen dahn, aren't you?"

This only earned the Operative an even more vicious glare. If looks could kill. But the teenager didn't say a word. Even if he hadn't been threatened into silence, he didn't imagine anything he could say would change this human's mind.

x x x

Translations:  
Feh feh pi goh: baboon's ass-crack  
Huen dahn: bastard

x x x


	10. Chapter 10

x x x

_2519-10-25; 1050 - The Academy_

x x x

Jack looked up at Mr Cole, glaring in a very threatening way, "Deactivate the disruption field." he ordered.

"I- I can't do that!" Mr Cole said, terrified at the idea, "The subject, he-"

"Now!" Jack snarled, and it was more than simple anger that turned his tone. He bit back the rage and looked away from the infuriating man.

"If you say so, sir." Mr Cole replied, "Don't say you weren't warned." and he turned to a control panel.

Several tense seconds passed, then the Doctor looked up sharply, staring right at the other alien in the room. Jack no longer needed to support him, as he quickly stood up and stepped forward, towards the cage, "Koschei." he said, his tone disbelieving.

The alien stood and walked over to the wall of his cell, staring at the Doctor in amazement. Then he smiled, "Theta? Have you come to take me home?"

The Doctor nodded slowly, "Yes."

"Wait." Jack said, "Who is he?"

The Doctor scowled, but didn't answer that. Not directly, anyway, "He's a friend."

"Why'd he call you Theta?" Jack continued.

"It was my nickname at school." the Doctor said, smiling distantly, clearly remembering something Jack could probably never understand.

The alien looked at Jack, "This a friend of yours, too?" he asked.

"Yeah." the Doctor answered.

"You keep dangerous friends." Koschei noted.

The Doctor snorted with laughter, but bit back whatever retort was on his mind, "Why do you say that?"

"I can smell the Pax in his blood."

Jack rolled his eyes and stepped away from the others in the room, fully expecting everyone to take that in the worst possible context. The Doctor did a double take at those words, however, staring at Koschei in surprise. "You know this, how?"

"Guess."

The Doctor frowned, staring now at a point in thin air which was unoccupied by anyone else, as he processed this information. According to Mal, it was an accepted theory that Reavers could smell their own, but the Doctor hadn't been able to tell that Jack had that chemical in his blood. Why should someone else from his world be able to, unless... having been on Miranda at the time the Pax was released. "This makes all kinds of sense. And I really wish it didn't."

Something in the Doctor's demeanour made it clear that he wasn't upset by the news. Sad, maybe, but not angry or afraid. Still, Jack watched warily, waiting for the inevitable fallout of this revelation.

Finally, after the silence had gone on for far too long, it was Mal who broke it, staring at Jack in shock as he asked, "Is that kid saying you're a Reaver?!"

"Based purely on blood chemistry, techncially, yes." Jack answered honestly.

"Reavers don't talk, or think clearly." Simon pointed out to Mal, "He's been doing both since we met him." he gave Jack a bemused smile, "'Sides, Reavers don't ask, nor take no for an answer if they did."

Jack laughed coldly at that, "No gorram kidding."

"So how is it, you're thinkin' clear, then?" Mal demanded.

"Couldn't tell you." Jack said, shrugging.

"Golden eyes." River said, staring right through Jack.

"That would be it." he said to her, smiling faintly. Mal just glared, waiting for an actual answer, "I'm sure Inara told you already, even though she told us she wouldn't."

"You can't die. Got that." Mal said, nodding in a way that said 'continue'. "Might test it if you don't explain yourself, right quick."

"My ship was taken by Reavers." Jack said, "They killed one of my crew, and I ordered the three survivors to leave without me, 'cause I couldn't get to them in time."

"You were captured?" Mal asked bluntly, knowing that had to be it.

"And with not being able to stay dead..." Jack continued, allowing the rest of that sentence to the imagination of the others in the room. Their imagination wouldn't come close to the truth of it.

"Ai yah tien ah." Simon whispered, horrified.

"Pretty much, yes." Jack growled at him, "And the odds are the curse that keeps my body from dying has a similar effect on my mind, is likely why I'm still relatively sane."

"All relative." River put in, innocently.

"I'm surprised you can't see his 'curse', Koschei." the Doctor noted.

"I knew something wasn't right about him, but the sort of temporal perception I'd need to know _what _was wrong with him is tenth year stuff. I've been stuck in this cage since I was sixteen."

"How old are you?" Simon asked.

"You know maths, right human?" Koschei asked coldly, "Twelve years since Miranda."

"You don't look twenty-eight." Mal pointed out, apparently no longer too suspicious of Jack, since his admission about the Reavers.

"Looks can be decieving." Koschei said, tilting his head to one side, "You look like an idiot... but you aren't. For a human, at least."

"Thanks." Mal said, grinning, "Good to know, will use that to my advantage."

The Doctor turned to glare at Mr Cole, "Let him out, now."

"I can't do that." the scientist said, fearfully, "You must understand, he's got the Pax in his blood. The last time he was allowed in the same room as a human, he sent the poor man to the hospital for two months!"

"Aww, he survived?" Koschei asked, pouting slightly.

Mr Cole glared at the alien, but the Doctor was the one who spoke, "What did he do to deserve that, Koschei?"

"Killed an entire planet." was the answer. The Doctor flinched noticeably, but Jack guessed it was for the fact that he had done so himself, rather than the idea of the human's crime. Koschei either didn't notice, or misinterpreted this, and continued to speak, "I could have undone the damage on Miranda, but he stopped me, just to save his precious Alliance's reputation."

Mr Cole stared in shock, "Why didn't you say something?" All he recieved as an answer for that was a cold stare.

"I don't think he wants to talk to you." Jack pointed out, "Don't blame him."

The teenager smiled, though there was very little genuine emotion behind it, "I think I like you." he told Jack.

Jack nodded, then turned to Mr Cole again, "Let him out, that's an order." he smiled dangerously, "I think we can handle him."

"But-!"

River stepped forward, "Rather let him out or see what you made me?" she asked innocently.

Mr Cole backed away from her, then quickly pressed the button to release the locks on the cage, having to turn to enter an authorisation code, but immediately returning his full and fearful attention to River as soon as he had done so.

Koschei stepped out of the cell, and looked around as if wondering what he should do with his new-found freedom. After only a second of thought, he turned and walked over to one of the control panels along the wall, passing Mr Cole, who edged away from him, as he did so. Without a word, he began typing commands into the console.

Everyone in the room watched, warily. The Doctor moved to stand behind Koschei, looking over his shoulder at what he was doing. Occasionally, the Doctor whispered a suggestion to him, to which the younger alien would either respond with a nod, or instigate a whispered argument. At one point, River joined them, and simply pointed to one thing on the screen, before turning and wandering away again.

It took half an hour for them to finish, whatever it was, during which no one else dared to speak.

Finally, River grinned brightly, "That'll work!" she shouted across the room, startling everyone.

Koschei glanced up at the Doctor, who nodded, "I think she's right." the Doctor agreed.

"Science stuff, better to stay out of it." Mal said, grinning as he picked himself up from where he'd been sitting on the floor, and stretching. Jack, who had been standing the entire time, offered Simon and hand to stand as well, which the human nervously accepted.

As if by some silent agreement, they all moved to the centre of the room, and Koschei spoke, "I think we have a cure." he looked to Mr Cole, "I know you've been trying to come up with a way to turn the Reavers back to humans since the conspiracy was broken, but I'd not advise it. It should only be for those who retained some concept of decency, and they're both in this room."

"I know I'd rather be dead permanently than have that on my conscience." Jack said, scowling, "Pretty sure, if you got a percentage discrepancy again, those who turned back to human would accept the remaining Reavers' treatment as karma."

Mal shuddered, but nodded, "Hate to say it, but that's as may be true."

"We have some subjects to test the cure on, back down the corridor." Mr Cole offered.

"Better off dead." Jack growled, glaring at the scientist, "Or do you not have a conscience of your own to understand what we're talking about?"

"I think we should try it." the Doctor said, his voice was quiet but determined, "Give them the choice."

"Choice?" Koschei asked, confused.

"Some might choose to try to atone for it." the Doctor suggested, "Help the families of victims."

"Sounds like something Book would say." Mal pointed out, "Maybe you're right, ah- what do we call you, right now?"

"For his benefit-" he indicated Koschei, "-you should probably call me Theta." he smiled as if this was some sort of big cosmic joke.

"You two went to school together, then?" Jack asked, eyeing the young alien, obviously a Time Lord in training, from the information he'd got so far.

The Doctor nodded, seeming to see where Jack's mind was taking him, and answered the question before it was asked, "You know him."

Jack half-smiled, but the other half was a scowl. A morbid sort of expression that said he thought it should be funny, but not in a particularly pleasant way, "I think I understand."

There was only one other Time Lord that he had ever met, in spite of his best efforts to learn of more, somewhere, anywhere. Anywhen. This child was going to grow up to become the Master.

x x x

They were just leaving the room in which Koschei had been imprisoned. It was the plan, now, to try and use this cure on one of the caged Reavers. Mal had ranted for some time about the idea of keeping the three Reaver prisoners in- as Mal had worded it- "The heart of rutting Londinium!"

None of them really expected a positive result from this test. Oh, they expected the chemical to reverse the Pax, but they didn't think the prisoners would be grateful.

But just before the door closed behind them, a voice came through on an internal comms channel. "Captain! Captain, this is urgent!"

Jack turned around and ran back into the room, activating the comms terminal and being greeted with an image of Derrin's face, "Better be." he pointed out. Derrin knew perfectly well that when they spied on other organisations, the only reason to admit to doing so was in a life-or-death- and preferably apocalyptic- situation. Anything less, and it just was not worth the paperwork.

"I think we have a situation." Derrin said. It looked like he was paying more attention to some readout on his own screen than to Jack, "Y'know, the kind you need to shoot at."

"Helpful." Jack said sarcastically, then snapped the order, "Details!"

"Security's picked up a long-range one-man ship. It's not answered their waves, and it's dodged all the planetary defenses. It's headed right for the roof of your building, and it's painted in Reaver colors."

"Mi tian gohn." Jack hissed, "Why would it do that?"

"I'm guessing 'cause of the tracking signal we're picking up from- if the security footage I've hacked into, and our tracing software are both working right- your right arm."

Jack stared at the screen for several seconds, eyes wide with shock, "That's why-" he hesitated, not wanting to mention the incident on Lilac to Derrin. Instead he started swearing, "Cheong bao ho tze kuh wu wei shian dohn wu huen dahn!"

"Just what I wanted to hear." Koschei sniped from the doorway, "Accurate, too." he added, earning a glare from the Doctor.

"Roof, now!" Jack ordered, turning and running out of the room. Koschei just managed to step out of the way in time to avoid getting knocked over.

The Doctor started running just as Jack passed him, and kept pace easily.

"Always comes to this, doesn't it?" Jack asked him, "Running to or from danger."

The Doctor laughed, a sharp bark of a laugh that somehow still showed he found the thought amusing on some level, even with the particular danger they were running towards right now.

x x x

The running hadn't lasted long, though. Once they got to the lifts, they had to stand and wait while they ascended to the roof level. There was, thankfully, no music playing, though. One good thing, in the Doctor's opinion.

Then River began to hum. She had a very good voice, and it wasn't unpleasant to listen to, until Jack asked, "Where did a good little twenty-sixth century girl learn a song from Rocky Horror?"

"From your mind, most likely." the Doctor offered.

She began to actually sing the words, eyes now locked on Jack as she did so, "When Eddie said he didn't like his teddy you knew he was a no-good kid, but when he threatened your life with a switch blade knife! What a guy, makes you cry, and I did."

She tilted her head to one side, smiling softly, then glanced at Koschei for a moment as she fell silent, watching the others for their reaction.

Jack looked uncomfortable, rubbing the side of his neck as if remembering something probably best not asked about. Koschei was watching Jack, and seemed to have guessed what River might be referring to. Either way, the Doctor was left completely out of the loop, and he did not like it.

When they reached the roof, the ship had already landed. It was painted like a Reaver ship alright, but it hadn't been damaged like the other one the Doctor had seen. Nor was it decorated in the repulsive and macabre way, using the bodies of their victims as ornaments. Just the paint... or was that blood?

When its pilot emerged, however, all doubt as to whether or not it was a Reaver was removed. It snarled like a wild animal, with a violent rage in its mind that literally hit the Doctor like a physical blow, even at this distance.

"Looking for this?" Jack asked, stepping forward in front of the others, and revealing the bladed weapon from his arm. The creature snarled again, and charged at him. It ran into him at full speed, hitting him with its shoulder. But it hadn't been aiming for him, as it continued its charge. Jack was thrown far enough away from the Reaver that he only just caught the railing at the edge of the roof with one hand, as he tumbled over it.

The Reaver hit the Doctor with full force, knocking him to the ground and snarling in his face. Luckily, the Doctor had better reaction times than any human, and caught the Reaver's shoulders with his hands, keeping it at arm's length so it couldn't bite him. But it was very strong, and quickly got its bony hands around his throat.

He concentrated on holding it back, instead of trying to free himself completely- wasn't like he needed to breathe that much, anyway- and managed to keep it from doing any serious harm to him, long enough for someone else to attack it. Turned out to be River, who kicked the Reaver square in the jaw with a boot that looked too heavy for her delecate frame.

The Doctor quickly scrambled to his feet, backing away from the Reaver, as River pinned it down. She had caught its wrists and now held them to its chest, her knees on its legs to stop it from trying to kick at her. Everyone else was frozen in shock, except for Jack who had only just managed to return to the safer side of the railing.

River looked up at Koschei, and the Doctor got his second telepathic shock in as many minutes. He heard River's mind literally shriek the younger Time Lord's _real _name, startling him into giving her his full and undivided attention, instead of just staring dumbstruck at the scene before him. "Little help?" she added, her voice soft as if she's only drawn his attention by nothing more than politely clearing her throat.

Koschei stared at her for half a second, before clearly deciding that the imminent violence should be dealt with before the probing questions. He ran over and knelt next to the struggling Reaver, then- very cautiously, careful to avoid being bitten- pressed both its temples with the tips of his fingers. His eyes closed, and he frowned. "Not going to work."

River stared at him, as if her stare could be seen through his closed eyes, and held some meaning he should interpret. When this failed to work instantaneously, she informed him, "Yes it will."

Jack appeared at the Doctor's side, now, and asked him quietly, "What are they doing?"

"I don't know." the Doctor answered. Technically true, though he did have a guess. It really did look like Koschei was trying to affect the Reaver's mind. The fact River was certain it would work was actually a bit disturbing, he had believed these creatures were no longer capable of intelligent thought.

Finally, Koschei let go of the Reaver, which stopped fighting. River gave them both the briefest of glances to confirm what she had probably already sensed, before picking herself up and taking a step back from the Reaver. It didn't move.

"If it weren't for the Pax in my own blood, I think I'd want to be sick." Koschei said, so quietly that he was barely audible at this distance, "You really did not need to fight me."

The Reaver slowly picked itself up into a sitting position, turning to glare at Koschei, who was still kneeling on the ground, watching the creature with undisguised curiosity. It seemed to think for a moment, before retorting, "You did to my mind what I've done to others' bodies." Its voice sounded more like a snarl than speech, but the words were definitely intelligible.

Koschei pulled a face that was half amused half disgusted, "I dragged you kicking and screaming to where I wanted you to be, but I didn't cause you any lasting harm." he snapped.

The Reaver bared its teeth at him. They had been filed into sharp jagged fangs, completely inhuman, "You knew it wouldn't last. Last time."

Koschei nodded, "True."

"You didn't tell us." it growled.

"What the hell is going on?" Jack demanded, loudly enough for everyone to hear him.

"Very good question." Mal agreed.

"I'll explain, later." Koschei said, turning to glare at both humans who had spoken, before speaking directly to the Reaver once more, "We have a cure. If you want it?"

It growled at him, before snapping, "Took you long enough."

"I'll explain that later, too." Koschei said, obviously impatient, "I'm guessing you have less than half an hour, this time. Do you want the cure, or not?"

"Do I have a choice?" it asked.

"Yes, the alternative is death." River answered, causing it to turn to look at her.

Once again it showed its teeth, although this time the Doctor got the feeling this was the closest this creature could come to smiling. There was no emotion behind it, but it was clear the creature was eyeing River up. Whether as a potential threat or victim was unclear.

"Try it." she offered, smiling coldly, "Any body part of yours touches me, gets ripped off."

"You better believe her." Mal warned, "And soon as she's ripped you apart, I start shooting you."

The Reaver looked from one of the other, then tilted its head to one side, "Not afraid." it pointed out, "But not going to try it." it then looked up at Jack and said, "You decide."

Jack frowned, "Why?"

"You have the right to pass judgement." the Reaver said calmly. It showed no fear, no emotion at all. Its words were coming from whatever remained of the formerly human intelligence- possibly completely undamaged by the Pax, there was no way to be sure- which Koschei had drawn to the front of its mind. But it didn't _feel_.

Jack folded his arms defensively, and only now did the Doctor notice that those blades had been concealed again, "Take the cure." he said, frowning, "Then tell us if you want to live with it."

Slowly, the Reaver nodded, "As you wish."

x x x

"The chemical inhibits emotions, and the brain's ability to interpret sensory input. Taste, touch- including pain, pleasure, or even heat and cold- and smell, so the only thing you really can smell clearly is the Pax itself." Koschei explained calmly.

Theta, Mal, River, Simon, the Captain, and that infuriating human that had kept him locked up like a lab-rat and experimented on him for the last twelve years, were all present. Everyone was listening to him, and most were avoiding looking at the disturbing scene in the middle of the room, probably grateful of his words for a distraction. Koschei was watching with morbid interest as Simon Tam removed the blades from the Captain's arm.

It had been the immortal's own request; remove the blades, then he would take the cure. The disturbing part- to the rest of those present, because Koschei understood why it didn't bother the human in question, and in turn wasn't concerned by it himself- was that the Captain was fully conscious and hadn't been given any form of pain relief beforehand.

"There are two reactions to it, as far as I observed on Miranda." he continued, "To accept death, just lay down and stop living. Or, to fight back, the instinctive desire to live and to regain what was lost through any means necessary. Those who fought back, ironically enough, were the ones who had higher levels of the same chemical that the Pax was designed to inhibit."

"So how come Captain unkillable here didn't go all crazy-like, way the Reavers did?" Mal asked bluntly.

"My initial reaction was to lay down and die." the Captain answered simply, looking up at Mal with a cold smile that suggested he knew that it should be funny, but just didn't feel it in his current state.

"That's a big problem with being immortal." Theta pointed out. Unlike the humans, he watched what Simon Tam was doing, but he did have a slightly disgusted look on his face as he watched.

"I can think of worse problems with it." the Captain said bluntly, "Like resurrecting to discover first-hand that Reavers are necrophiliacs."

Strangely, only one person reacted especially badly to this statement, and it was Simon, who choked, his hand slipping as he heard it, "That-" he informed the Captain, pointing to the large and unnecessary gash on his arm, "-was entirely your own fault."

The Captain just grinned, not even trying to make the obviously false expression look entirely real, "Can't hurt me, right now." he pointed out.

Mal shook his head, "I think your Captain friend did that on purpose." he muttered to Theta, who nodded.

"Yes, I'm sure he did."

"Didn't see you cringing?" the Captain asked Mal.

"Heard worse Reaver stories." Mal said bluntly, "Though I gotta say, that's one of the more disturbing mental pictures."

The Captain shrugged, unconcerned, "I've flirted with Davros, and Reavers are noticeably prettier."

Theta laughed at that, "When did that happen?"

"Um... forget I said that." the Captain said evasively, giving Koschei the distinct impression that he was implying he'd met this Davros person- who Theta clearly knew- at some point in Theta's relative future. It also seemed pretty clear that no one else in the room knew there was time travel involved at all.

"Are we quite finished talking about Reavers in _that _context?" Simon asked pointedly.

"I could talk about anything in this context." the Captain said, grinning, before turning to meet Theta's eyes, a spark of malice there as he added, "There is much to be discussed on the subject of sink plungers."

And at that, Theta fell out of his chair, laughing almost hysterically. "I'm going to kill you!" he shouted up at the Captain, in-between fits of laughter.

x x x

Translations:  
Ai yah tien ah: merciless hell  
Mi tian gohn: excrement  
Cheong bao ho tze: monkey raping  
Kuh wu: despicable  
Wei shian dohn wu: dangerous person or animal  
Huen dahn: bastard

x x x


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note**: I'll admit that there's one detail in here that was added immediately after I'd watched Day One of Children of Earth, before I saw the rest of the series... y'know, back when we all expected the _only three remaining main characters to all live through the week!_ Ahem, sorry. I'll not rant. Promise.

I apologise for the lateness of this chapter, but I am actually updating it from hospital, having only just figured out how to get Internet access here. Reviews will boost my morale and may help me recover (and therefore update) faster.

x x x

_2519-10-31; 1430 - Torchwood_

x x x

The cure had worked. Jack was able to think and feel again. Unfortunately, all the emotion he should have felt during the last twelve years had overwhelmed him as soon as he took the cure. The last thing he remembered was watching impassively as Simon had injected the pale blue liquid into his veins... then everything had become a blur of agonising pain, petrifying fear, and so much else that he couldn't even think clearly enough to recognise every emotion that flew through his mind. It dragged him down into a terrible nightmare, reliving the worst- and the best- of the last decade.

"Time to wake up, Captain." a soft lilting female voice called him out of the torment of his own mind, and he opened his eyes to see River Tam leaning over him, smiling, "Welcome back."

He sat up slowly, and she backed up a little, sitting down on a chair next to the bed he found himself on. They were in the Torchwood building on Londinium. Aesthetically, he had done his best to recreate the Cardiff Hub every time he had set up in a new location, and this was no different.

Now he glanced around to see Derrin talking to the Doctor, deep in conversation. A few words he caught from the Doctor included mention of 'alternate universes', 'parallel timelines', and 'paradox relativity'. Derrin looked like he was enjoying the conversation, whether he understood a word of it or not.

The building's resident medic was chatting with Simon Tam. Well, interrogating him on neuro-physical and relative psychological theory, by the sound of it, actually. She was also coming on to the younger doctor quite determinedly, but Simon's determination to ignore this was equal to the task. Doctors... all alike.

"Hey, Captain." Koschei's voice drew his attention. River stood and wandered off, allowing the young Time Lord to take her seat next to him. Koschei was smiling. Grinning so brightly it seemed to light up the whole room, "There was an anomaly in your DNA, didn't like the cure very much. Something on a high-end cognitive level, hereditary, not related to your curse. Could be due to your more advanced biology." that last implied it to mean 'because of the time you come from', but he seemed to know better than to talk about time travel in front of the others here, "You don't really want the technobabble, do you?" Jack slowly shook his head, and Koschei's smile widened even more, "You're fine now, though."

"Right." Jack looked around the rest of the room, "Mind not grinning too maniacally, please?"

Koschei's smile wavered, and then faded, "Why? I'm just happy that I'm able to be happy again." he laughed, "And that you're okay. It was a bit iffy for a while, if you weren't immortal we wouldn't be talking right now."

Jack smiled, kinda morbid, but a genuine smile all the same, "Just don't grin like a lunatic. It... bothers me."

Koschei nodded slowly, "If you say so, Captain." he turned around, and shouted, "Hey, Theta! Any word on that top-secret wake-up present for Captain Undead, that you mentioned?"

"They're late." the Doctor called back, before attempting to resume his discussion with Derrin, as if he hadn't been interrupted. River walked over to the Doctor, before he could do so, however, and handed him a very thoroughly dissected and poorly repaired book, black-bound, with bits of paper sticking out of it at odd angles, some of it looked like it used to be part of the book, but there were a fair few wads of note-paper folded in there, too. It had a cross on the front, like a bible.

The Doctor took it, with a frown, and glanced at the first page, raising a bemused eyebrow at what he read there. "Read the first part, chapter six. Edited, improved. You'll like." River suggested, before wandering off again, happily, "I'm gonna check on our pets." she added over her shoulder.

"Don't call them that, it's not nice, River." the Doctor chided, flicking through the pages to find what she had suggested he read.

"Animalistic, needed taming. House-training. Pets." River retorted bluntly, before disappearing from the room.

Koschei and Jack looked at each other, "Is she suggesting I'm a pet, too?" Jack asked warily.

"If you are, you're his." he pointed to the Doctor.

"I heard that, it's not funny, Koschei." the Doctor observed, before finding the chapter River had told him to read, and chuckling at whatever he found there, before pocketing the book to read in more detail later, "Now, what were we talking about again?"

"Parallel reality theory." Derrin answered brightly.

"Oh, yes!" and he quickly turned and walked over to Jack, who still sat on the edge of the couch he had woken on. The Doctor leaned over and touched the side of his face, "You're probably going to want this back." he waited for Jack to acknowledge his request for a telepathic link.

Jack scowled, "What?"

"A memory."

He watched the Doctor with a calculating eye, but then nodded, "Yes. Especially if you took it. I'd like to know why not to hit you for that." he grinned brightly- too happy that he was back to his usual self to really be angry about this- and deliberately relaxed as he felt the Doctor apply more pressure to his temple. Before he knew what was happening, he found himself reliving the lost- stolen- memory.

x x x

_2011-06-07; 0215 - Cardiff_

x x x

"Jack, I'm getting some unusual readings in your vicinity." Ianto's voice came over the commlink, as he searched the streets of Cardiff for the latest rift spike.

"Unusual is so vague, Ianto." Jack retorted.

His unwilling accomplice in searching for this spike glanced at him, wondering exactly what Ianto must have said. John Hart had his uses, and Jack preferred to keep him within sight at all times. Ianto didn't like it, obviously, but it was better than letting his personal nemesis loose.

"Well, I've never seen it before. It didn't come through the Rift, but it definitely came from somewhere that's _not _here. Or now, come to think of it." was Ianto's answer.

"But it's not my primary alert?" Jack asked, then added slightly more nervously, "Or emergency code two?" Code two was a power surge recognition connected to Archangel... just because someone is supposed to be dead, Jack knew from personal experience, it did not necessarily mean they would stay that way... Jack Harkness was not the only one who could cheat death, and he was paranoid enough to have added that alert to the system, after reading Torchwood and UNIT's old files on the Master.

"Nope, neither of those. It seems out of phase, somehow." Ianto said, and Jack could just picture him shrugging as he said this.

"Where is it?"

"Headed towards the rift spike location, and quite fast too." Ianto answered, "I suggest you move faster."

"Was just thinking that." Jack said, before breaking into a run.

John kept up with him easily, "Any idea what the hell is going on?"

"Not a clue." Jack grinned at him, "Love it this way."

"You're insane!" John laughed.

They reached the rift spike location, and just as Jack turned a corner he collided with another man, who appeared to have also been running. Jack fell to the ground, but the other man kept his footing, glancing quickly at both of them, before offering his hand to Jack to help him up. "Sorry, was in a bit of a hurry." he tilted his head to one side as Jack accepted the offered hand. Who goes out in weather this cold without a coat? The man was freezing.

Jack checked him out very quickly- dangerous situation, better not to waste time, but he couldn't help himself- and saw that the other man was just a little shorter than him, long black hair in a ponytail, dark blue eyes that were almost entrancing, and what looked like the early stages of an attempt to grow a goatee.

He smiled when he noticed Jack's attention, but then a distinctly feminine scream came from a side-street, and both of them turned to run towards it at the same time. John followed, "Playtime later." he snapped at Jack, who spared just enough energy to make a very rude gesture at John in response.

The stranger ran on ahead, getting there a bit before Jack, and stopping in the end of the alleyway, "Hey, fang-face!" he shouted loudly. A growling sound seemed to answer him, "Pick on someone your own size. Don't know what you see in the anorexic little girl there."

"Weevil, maybe?" John muttered, but Jack shook his head. Weevils didn't growl that way, this sounded very different. Jack stepped forward so he could see what it was, just in time to see the creature lunge at the stranger.

The man side-stepped it easily, "Too slow." he jeered, holding up his hand in front of the creature as it turned to face him again, "Stop right there." he ordered. It obeyed, swaying slightly and growling low in its throat. It looked a bit like the Futurekind of Malcassairo... if someone had taken a butcher's knife to its face. "Good little monster. Now sit." it slowly crouched down on the ground, still growling at him, "Stay. Goooood." Without taking his gaze away from the monster, he continued to speak, "Girl, stand up. Walk over here. _Slowly_." he emphasised that last word very strongly.

The girl- she seemed unharmed, but the creature had clearly intended to attack her- stood and warily approached them. The man's assessment of her as anorexic might not have been wrong, she was a very skinny, but also quite pretty, Chinese girl. When she was standing next to the man, he touched her shoulder gently, still not looking away from the monster.

"You will walk away, slowly. If you run, it will chase you down. You will go home and forget this ever happened. Dohn ma?"

"Yes." she answered, her tone distant, as if hypnotised. It seemed strange to Jack that the man spoke Mandarin to her, even though it was obviously a language she understood... and according to Ianto, that _was _the dominant language on Earth at the moment. Stranger still to use it _with _English instead of just using it for the whole sentence.

"Go." the man commanded, and she turned and walked away.

Jack backed up, his gun- already drawn since he had heard the scream- now raised to the man who had just so calmly ordered the girl to leave, "Who are you?" he demanded.

Still not looking away from the monster, the stranger smiled faintly, "I believe you know me. Or... someone like me." he frowned, "I can't order it to sleep. Do you have any sedatives on you?"

"Yeah. Here." John stepped forward, pulling out a syringe, "This'll put a bull elephant out for a couple of hours." What John had intended to do with such drugs, Jack really didn't think he wanted to know. He would need to interrogate him about it later, but that didn't mean he _wanted _to know.

"Give it the full dose." the stranger answered, ignoring Jack's threatening stance.

John glanced at it, "I'm not gonna get rabies or anything, am I?"

"It's only infectious through direct blood-contact." the man answered, his tone casual, as if he'd dealt with this sort of monster before, "Even if it bites- and as long as I maintain eye-contact it shouldn't- you'll be fine." a cold smile crossed his face, "You would have right to worry if I weren't here to control it. Biting would be the least of your fears from it."

"What's that mean?" Jack demanded, "What is it?"

"It's called a Reaver." the stranger answered, still watching the creature.

It growled as if recognising that word, but remained still. John cautiously approached it, with the sedative. When it failed to attack once he was within arm's reach, he quickly injected it and backed away, watching with detached interest as it collapsed.

The stranger sighed, seeming to relax, "Don't point that at me." he added, still not looking at Jack.

"Why not? You've given me good reason not to trust you." Jack said coldly.

"Have I?" the stranger asked, turning to face Jack, now. He looked relaxed, as if he was certain Jack wouldn't really harm him. Or maybe, more worryingly, couldn't?

"I only know one man with the ability to directly control the minds of others like that." Jack growled, "And he's supposed to be dead."

"So are you." John noted brightly.

"Details." Jack muttered, before demanding, "Identify yourself."

"I'm not the same as him." the stranger said with a sigh, "It gets very complicated, and I'd rather wait so that I only need to explain it once."

"What do you mean?" Jack demanded, but before he could continue, Ianto's voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Jack, your primary alert signal went off... inside the Hub. There's a big... blue thing... looks like one of those old-time police phone boxes... and it's right in the middle of my workspace."

Jack laughed, "Perfect." he said, still pointing the gun at the stranger, "You, come with me. John, zap this thing into a vacant Weevil cage, will you?" He watched as John knelt next to the Reaver, grabbing its forearm with his left hand, and activating his Vortex manipulator. He disappeared in a flare of light, and Jack gestured with one hand for the stranger to walk ahead, still aiming the gun, "This way."

"Very trivial use of a temporal disalignment matrix." the stranger noted, as they walked.

"We didn't bring the SUV." Jack said, as if this was explanation enough, "And I do know who you are. He knows, too, otherwise he wouldn't be here."

"In the 'Hub'? That's what your contact called it."

"You heard that?"

"Good ears."

"Right. Keep moving." Jack prodded the man with the gun, encouraging him to walk faster.

x x x

"Is it really that bad?" Martha's voice was the first thing Jack heard as he entered the Hub.

After Owen and Tosh had died, Martha and John had been recruited to replace them. Mickey helped out when he had the time, too, but wasn't here right now. Martha was sitting next to the Doctor, and both of them were drinking tea, which Ianto had made. There was coffee waiting, too. John was lurking behind the couch, doing his best to loom over the Doctor's shoulder, while Gwen was now stationed at the Rift monitor.

The stranger's face lit up when he saw the Doctor, "Hey, it's a party! Is that tea?" he swooped down and snatched a cup of tea before anyone could protest, then seated himself comfortably opposite the Doctor, who was now staring at him in silent shock.

John eyed the other man in a calculating way, then backed off a bit, before turning to whisper something to Ianto.

"If you're trying to come on to the Doctor, John, forget it. I already tried." Jack said bluntly, recognising his old partner's body-language.

"Bite me." John sniped.

"Don't say that, please." the other man said, before turning his full attention to the Doctor, "Now that I have a proper audience, let's start at the beginning, shall we?"

"That'll take a while." the Doctor pointed out, his tone cold, showing that he was in complete agreement with Jack's assessment of this man.

The man smiled, "Alright, short version. Big damn paradox." he announced dramatically.

"Again?!" Martha whined. So obviously the Doctor had told her who this was, too.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" the man asked, turning to face her with curiosity. Martha opened her mouth to answer, but he shook his head, "On second thoughts, I'm not sure I want to hear the answer to that." he said, grimacing, before beginning to explain his 'short version' of the story, "Alternate realities. Parallel worlds. Multiple universes."

"We get the concept." the Doctor said pointedly, as the man looked like he was going to continue in this way unless interrupted.

He smiled, and nodded, seeming to concede that point to the Doctor, "I'm from one. One that you will, in your relative future, create."

"How's that work?" Martha asked.

"A major universe-altering choice." he said, shrugging, "This reality is locked by a circular temporal loop, you will always have made the wrong choice here, it can't be changed. If it did change, the opportunity to make the choice would never come to pass. My reality is brought into existence as a divergent alternate, caused by making the right choice. And it's your choice to make, Doctor."

"So why are you here?" Jack demanded coldly.

The Doctor held his hand up, "Jack, if he really is from an alternate reality, could you turn the hostility down a bit. I want to know the whole story before making any rash decisions."

"But Doctor!" Jack complained, "This is the Master!"

The man looked up at him, startled, "Wow." he said flatly, "The Pax did terrible things to my ego."

Jack blinked. Twice. Then asked, "What?"

"I do not call myself the Master." he answered, still looking slightly stunned, and the tone in which he said the title was derogatory, "I never took a title." he glanced to the Doctor now, "I still use my chosen name."

The Doctor smiled at that, "This is encouraging." he pointed out.

The man sighed, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes, "Tell me what I did to upset you so." he said quietly.

Jack scowled, shifting uncomfortably on his feet, before walking over to stand behind the couch that the Doctor and Martha sat on, not wanting to talk about his year on the Valiant. In the end, Martha answered, "You took over and virtually destroyed the Earth."

He opened his eyes to stare at her, "It looks to be in good shape at the moment." he pointed out.

"It was a fractal paradox." the Doctor said, "I broke it."

He nodded slowly, "Are we still friends?" he asked, his tone hopeful, but still sounding like he seriously doubted it.

The Doctor half-smiled, but shook his head, "You didn't want that. You did once use the phrase 'best enemies', though."

A faint smile crossed his face, but then he straightened up, "I came here for one important reason, Doctor." The Doctor also sat up straighter, seeming more attentive now. "This choice you will make. In order for me, as I am now, to exist, you have to choose to help me."

"With what?" the Doctor asked, warily.

"It was a very long time ago, for me." he said with a sad smile, "Something terrible happened, ruined an entire world. Most of the human population died as a result. It was a dangerous chemical that had been introduced into the air. I was there when it happened, I was... affected."

"The Pax?" the Doctor asked, receiving a nod as an answer.

"In this reality, you chose not to believe that I could commit such atrocities without its influence-" he held his hand up to stop the Doctor from speaking, "-in order to allow my reality to exist, you must choose to cure me."

"What's to be gained from the paradox?" the Doctor asked, frowning, "It won't change what you've already done here."

"But it will change what I have done in my reality." he really smiled, now, "I don't know how you stand the silence, here. I can tell that Gallifrey is gone. Every reality I phased through-" he paused, glancing at Jack to add, "-and I had to use the Pax as a tracer reference, that's why I arrived right after the Reaver-" back to the Doctor as if he hadn't interrupted himself at all, "-searching for the version of you that could make this choice, they were all dead or had never existed. You're still there in some. A particularly bad one had an entire span of six galaxies overrun by Reavers, and that reality's version of me ruled them. That was... ah... unpleasant." he frowned at an obviously disturbing memory, "The point is, only in my reality does our world still thrive."

The Doctor stared at him in shock, "You mean...?"

"If you save me, we can bring you home." a brief hesitation to let those words sink in, then he added, "At least to visit. This reality may still need you. Especially if I'm not dead in this one." he glanced at Jack, who had previously told him that he was supposed to be dead.

"How is that possible?" Martha asked, stunned.

"The Eye of Harmony- the primary power source of Gallifrey- can facilitate inter-dimensional travel." the Doctor whispered, stunned, "But how... what changed in your reality?"

"I changed. Because of your future choice." he said calmly, "I'm not sure what happened in this reality, but I have heard rumours from other realities of a time war involving the Daleks. That never happened for me. We isolate the Daleks, preventing them from ever leaving their home-world, when they were only just learning to kill things."

"We?" the Doctor asked.

"You and I." he smiled faintly, "In my reality, we're very close friends."

"Exactly how close?" John asked impudently, from where he and Ianto had been listening, next to the coffee machine.

Jack shot him a glare, but the Master- except not the Master- just looked up at him calmly, "You wouldn't understand, human."

John scowled, "I understand a lot of things. I'm not from this century, y'know."

"Yes, I do know. I've met both of you before." he indicated John and Jack, "I also know that you really did not understand when he-" he indicated the Doctor, "-tried to explain it to you."

The Doctor was trying to fight the urge to laugh, and gradually losing, now. "Did I understand?" Jack asked, glancing from one Time Lord to another, and wondering what they were talking about.

"Yes, but I don't think you need to know right now." the not-Master laughed. It was a sound of genuine humour, rather than the cruel laughter Jack remembered from his experience of the Master. Whatever the joke was, Jack did not get it.

The Doctor smiled distantly, "It's been a very long time since I've seen you laugh... really laugh and mean it."

"I'm not surprised in the slightest." he said, ceasing to laugh quite abruptly, "That would be a side-effect of the Pax. Best not to talk about the details. You'll learn them all eventually."

"One question, though." the Doctor added, curiously. When the other Time Lord nodded, he continued, "Why didn't your reality's version of me come with you, to tell me this? It would be a lot easier to believe if I had his word for it as well as yours."

"Because he's a stubborn ass, just like you."

"Now that sounds like the Master talking." Jack pointed out.

"He was optimistic enough to believe it would happen, without our help. But, well, I know you." he smiled brightly, "You'll get all sentimental about what great friends we were at that age, and wonder how I could become such a monster without the Pax, so you'll assume you have to complete the temporal circle, and not give me the cure."

"Guess I haven't changed much, in your reality, then?" the Doctor asked, grinning.

"Well, you do look different." he said, eyeing the Doctor critically, "And have a better dress-sense."

"Which one had the better dress sense? Yours or ours?" Martha asked, seeming to be warming to the subject far more than Jack was comfortable with.

"Mine."

"You think of him in the possessive sense?" Jack asked edgily.

"Not often." he said, with a slightly feral grin that wouldn't have looked at all out of place on Harold Saxon's face.

John laughed, "Can we keep you?" he asked the not-Master.

"Not likely." the Time Lord retorted, still smiling, "I need to be going, soon, anyway. I was given a three hour window, this trip." Both he and the Doctor stood at the same time, but then the Doctor hesitated, unsure of what to say or do. That choice was taken out of his hands when the other Time Lord hugged him, adding as he stepped back, "I'll see you when- if- you help me."

The Doctor nodded, clearly taking what Jack still viewed as a potential threat at face value, "Alright, then."

"Oh, and this-" he pulled out a vial of pale blue liquid, "Is for that thing you've got caged up somewhere around here." he walked over and handed it to John, whispering something to him that Jack couldn't hear. John nodded, eyes lighting up with what could only be described as unholy glee at whatever the Time Lord had told him.

"Why is everyone trusting you?" Jack demanded, as the Time Lord turned to face him directly.

"Because the Doctor can tell when I lie."

"You do it so often in this reality, it was a surprise to hear you tell the truth." the Doctor added brightly. The other Time Lord quickly whispered something to the Doctor, now, "Oh, do I have to?"

"Yes."

The Doctor shrugged, "Makes sense, I suppose." he turned to Jack, now, "I'm sorry, Jack." and with that he reached up to touch the side of Jack's face.

Jack knew what he was about to do, and didn't try to stop him, "I really hope you know what you're doing, Doctor." he warned, before everything faded to black as the Doctor took away his memory of this night.

x x x


	12. Chapter 12

x x x

_2519-10-31; 1600 - Torchwood_

x x x

"It's time." River said, returning to the room, leaving the doors open behind her, "Higher brain function's restored, and I'm thinking the major case of the sorries is a good sign." she added.

"Let's go see, then." the Doctor said, and River nodded.

"Going to enlighten me as to what River Tam, two Time Lords, and my own team are conspiring against me for?" Jack asked, watching the Doctor carefully, but directing his question to Koschei.

Koschei shrugged, "I only know you'll like it, I wasn't given explicit details."

x x x

The room that River led them into contained six holding cells, four of which were occupied by former Reavers. Every one of them was sitting near the back of their individual cells, cringing and hiding their faces. They were wearing plain white clothing and had bandages visible on their arms and faces where piercings and metal must have been removed. They all looked very unhappy with their current situation.

Eddie slowly stood as the two Torchwood team-members, Mal, Simon, River, Jack, and the two Time Lords, stopped in front of these cells. He looked more human without the pieces of metal sticking out of his face, and even if they would leave terrible scars it had to be a lot better than before. "Thank you." he said, his voice hoarse but no longer taking on a snarling tone when he spoke, "I didn't deserve it."

"It wasn't your fault." Jack said gently, "It was the Pax."

Eddie nodded slowly, "I worked on that project, but I was only a junior analyst."

"Still not your fault." Jack pointed out.

"You forgive me?" Eddie asked, frowning, "After the things I did to you?"

Jack folded his arms, smiling in a morbid sort of way, "I've had worse than you, Eddie."

"Mmm." that didn't seem to help matters, Eddie was probably thinking of the other Reaver he had associated with on that ship, which Jack did have to admit had done far worse than the one standing in front of him right now.

Jack laughed, "Worse than him, too."

"Thought you said Reavers were the worst monsters you'd seen?" the Doctor joked.

"No, Kaylee said that. I just said they were worse than Daleks." Jack looked right at the Doctor, his lip twitching slightly, "Between that one year that never happened, old Torchwood- who liked dissections for scientific purposes, but didn't seem to like anaesthetics so much- and being buried alive for... well, for a very long time. Ok, so Reavers are pretty damn vicious, but they've still got strong competition for the worst experience of my life."

"I imagine not everyone will be as forgiving as you." Eddie pointed out. Quite true, but how many other victims who had been through the torture Jack had at their hands would also have survived to be able to voice such forgiveness even if they did feel it?

"Yeah, I'm a saint. I don't think." Jack joked.

"Honestly, if the cure holds-" the Doctor started.

"And it will." River promised.

"-there's no reason why the four of you cannot rejoin society. It was never your fault." Jack thought that the Doctor really had some nerve to suggest these former-Reavers forgive themselves, when he couldn't do the same for things that had _genuinely _not been his fault. Just because he was telling the truth that they should try to readjust to normal life again, didn't make him any less of a hypocrite for not getting over his own guilt as well.

"And if you feel all guilty-like, there's plenty good ways to repent." Mal offered, "I know a place on Haven, needs rebuilding, defending and could use some honest-to-god redeemed souls to pass on the good word. Weren't Reavers who hit that, but good work is good work."

The other three former-Reavers had been listening to this exchange quietly, and one spoke now, with a noticible lisp... and judging by the scars around his mouth, it was probably a self-inflicted injury that caused that, too, "How could we possibly atone for what we have done?"

"Wise man said, it's not what you are that counts, rather the choices you make." River offered, grinning brightly at the Doctor for half a second, clearly indicating whose mind she found that quote in- paraphrased as it may be- before adding, "Choose to try. Be your best, is good enough."

Slowly, Eddie nodded, "I'm willing to try." he glanced at the other three- who nodded warily, clearly willing to allow him to speak for them, to take the lead here- before looking back to Mal, "Haven's a religious retreat, orbiting Deadwood, isn't it?" Mal nodded, "Can't think of a much better place. It's close to Reaver territory, your suggestion of defense isn't lost on me."

Mal's lip twitched slightly, but then he looked to the Doctor, "They're not gonna be unsupervised, are they?"

"I was gonna volunteer a TX to guard them." Derrin offered, "She's still not up to your specs, yet, Cap'n, but she'll serve the purpose."

"TX?" the Doctor asked, sceptically.

"Robot. Yes, I named her after the movie, no she's not allowed independent thought." Jack offered by way of an answer, "But she could certainly hold her own against a small pack of Reavers." he glanced at the four nervous former-Reavers, "It's not that we don't trust you, as you are now... just that I'm sceptical about the cure itself."

"We'll be keeping you here for observation for a good while before we release you." Derrin added, "Even then you're gonna be tagged. For your own good as much as the rest of the 'verse's."

"Don't begrudge you that." Eddie said, shrugging slightly, "If I were in your position, I wouldn't trust me, either."

"Ta ma duh, speak of the untrustworthy! Him again!" Derrin complained, pointing behind Jack.

But before Jack could turn to see the source of this problem, he found an arm across his chest, holding him in place, as a hand covered his eyes, "Hello, lover." Captain John Hart's voice said from behind him, almost whispering in his ear, "I've got a surprise for you."

"You're late." the Doctor pointed out, completely unconcerned by the source of the problem. Jack, on the other hand, was very uncomfortable with this, and tried to pull John's arm away. Unfortunately, the other man was strong enough to hold him in place.

"Twenty-seven minutes and fifteen seconds late." Koschei added unhelpfully.

"Details." John said dismissively.

"What are you three plotting?!" Jack demanded, still trying to pull away from John.

"Something you'll like." John promised. This was not entirely reassuring. Then he heard John call across the room, probably in Derrin's direction, "Do you know me?"

"Well yes. Duh." Derrin said sulkily.

"I'm not sure I should ask." this really was whispered in Jack's ear, "But I've been here before, right?"

"Right." Jack said, nodding slightly. Whatever John was up to, he had clearly jumped right to this point in time, and would go back to offend Derrin and the others at a later point in his own personal timeline. Still not necessarily a good thing, "Can you let me go now? I promise I won't look until you tell me to."

John laughed, but then glanced very briefly at the four occupied cages before loosening his grip on Jack, allowing him to step away.

True to his word, Jack kept his eyes on the floor, "Thanks." he muttered, "Now what are you doing here?" he demanded, obviously aiming the question at John in spite of not looking at him.

"You know how you felt under the influence of the Pax?" Koschei asked, watching Jack carefully, "Cold, empty. Nothing worth fighting for? They take a reason to fight, and it usually means pain. In two recorded cases, vengeance."

Jack glanced at Koschei now, to see a cold grin on his face. He had attacked the Operative out of revenge for Miranda, and by the expression he wore he was completely unrepentant for this. This made perfect sense. From what Koschei had told him of Miranda, even with his conscience and morals intact, Jack would have wanted to hurt that Operative as well.

But Koschei had said in two recorded cases. And recorded by who, anyway?

"I told you there was an element in your DNA, effecting a higher cognitive level, that disagreed with the cure." Koschei continued, watching Jack carefully for a reaction, "It disagreed with the Pax, as well. Let him think. If you'd had the violent reaction, you'd have been the same. Theta did the research and analysis for it, here. The modified cure we used to bring you back after we, ah, messed up and killed you six times with the one that worked on everyone else... it worked perfectly on him."

Still not breaking his promise not to look, Jack's eyes instinctively darted to the side, as if trying to see behind him out of the corner of his eye. Him. There was only one person he could think of that would fit with what Koschei was saying. When he turned his eyes back to Koschei, it was with hope, pleading that his assumption was accurate.

"You can look now." John said, and the grin he wore was clear in his voice, even before Jack turned around. Standing right behind John Hart was another very familiar man. He wasn't looking at Jack, staring at the floor instead... unsure, afraid? It was impossible to tell. "So... do you like your present?" John asked hopefully.

"Assuming for a minute you're not talking about yourself..." Jack said, his tone distant and vague, as he stepped past John, towards the other man, "Gray?"

"I don't know how you could do that." Gray muttered, "Stupid thing to do."

"What did he do?" Koschei asked, glancing at John for an answer.

"Sentimental fool forgave him. Gray buried him alive for two thousand years, and soon as Captain Conscience gets out first thing he says is 'I forgive you'." though that quote was said with a sneer, "Infinite bleeding heart... easy to do when you can't die from it."

"Shut up." Jack sniped over his shoulder at John, before focusing again on Gray, "How are you feeling now?"

"Is sorry a good enough word?" Gray asked quietly.

"I forgave you long ago, even without it." Jack said, smiling. He took one more step forward, and hugged his brother. And this time he didn't get stabbed for it, either.

x x x

Torchwood intimidated the Parliament into letting them deal with Reaver control, setting up a new base on Lilac to prepare for a war in which they would aim to save their enemy instead of killing it. Gray volunteered to help, and John muttered something about maybe showing up, too, if he was bored sometime.

The Serenity crew had helped with transport, and been well paid for it, with the promise of a regular supply run for the foreseeable future. River happily offered to join any fight that would- and she was certain that was a when, not an if- happen while Serenity was dirtside.

Now, after doing all he could to save this star system from their great threat, and assured that Jack would hold down the lines when he was gone, the Doctor was preparing to take Koschei home.

"Three hundred thousand, seven hundred and eleven years." River looked up at the Doctor, as she said this. Everyone else had already said their goodbyes, and she had waited until only she, Jack, and the Doctor were standing outside the TARDIS, before voicing this knowledge, "Oh, but you'll come back here before then. Only three centuries. New face. New name."

The Doctor gave her an odd look, confused by that last part. New face, he understood, new name? Why would he choose a new name? "What do you mean?"

"Spoilers." she grinned, and stood up on her tip-toes to kiss him on the cheek, "She'll meet you before then, though. I don't mind sharing _my _name."

x x x

Once the TARDIS left, taking both Time Lords away from this system, Jack turned to River. The two were alone now, and he just had to ask, "Anything I'm allowed to know?"

"Many things." she answered, spinning around, and dancing- all but floating- away towards the new Torchwood base. Jack followed her as she continued to speak, "Sihnon in the summer, watching the small rouge one. Seven stars, and snow in the light of gold." she spun once more, to smile enigmatically up at Jack, "We're here because we need to be. Future past. There's no aliens here because they're locked out. All locked. Time locked. She showed you how. Died first, but then she saved them, to show you. You'll show him."

Jack frowned, "No idea what you're getting at."

"He's a perfect circle. Serpent consumes its tail, last becomes first, destroyer, creator. Like his golden lady, makes himself."

"Still don't follow."

"History lessons. I couldn't tell him, he'd understand." she smiled, "You won't 'til it's time."

"Will I be a part of it?"

"Of course." River said, nodding, "But not named. Never known. A ghost, can't kill a ghost. Not recorded, not written. He would already understand if you were named."

x x x

_The End_

**Author's Note**: I don't expect everyone to understand what River was saying... but if you've seen the same theories I have about the Doctor being the genetic reincarnation of one of the first three Time Lords, it might make more sense. Maybe... if you think side-ways enough and read all the other clues with it.

And thank you all, for your reviews and your alerts on this story... or even for just reading it at all. It's been fun, and I love you all!


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